


^ 




Class _^ 



Kr^ '"•-" C , 1 . 



Rnnk /^4-7 



PRESENTED BY 



THE 



BIBLE EXPOSITOR, 



CONFIRMATIONS OF THE TRUTH 



OF 

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES; 

FROM THE 

OBSERVATIONS OF RECENT TRAVELLERS. 

ILLUSTRATING 

THE MANNExRS, CUSTOMS, AND PLACES REFERRED TO 
IN THE BIBLE. 



PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE 
PROMOTION OF CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE. 



NEW-YORK : 

ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS 
No. 2 85 BROADWAY. 

1856. 






■Gift 
Mrs. Hennen Jennings 
April 2€, 1933 







PREFACE. 



1 iE Holy Scriptures contain many passages full 
of unportance and beauty, but not generally under- 
stoml, because they contain allusions to manners and 
customs, familiar indeed to those to whom th^ were 
originally addressed, but imperfectly known to us. 



In order to obviate this difficulty^ this volume is 
now presented to the public, consisting of extracts 
from the narratives of travellers who have recorded 
the customs of the Oriental nations ; from whom w^e 
learn that some usages were retained among them 
to this day, such as existed in the times when the 
Scriptures were written, and that their manners are, 
in many instances, little changed since the patri- 



IV PREFACE. 

archal times. Such of the extracts as are taken from 
Harmer's Observations, are given in an abridged 
form, and intermixed with others, selected from more 
recent pnbhcations ^ and the compiler of this volume 
trusts that it may be the means, under God's provi- 
dence, of leading unlearned readers to a more gen- 
eral acquaintance with Eastern customs ; and assist- 
ing them to a clearer perception of the propriety 
and beauty of the illustrations so often drawn from 
them^ in the Bible. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Page 

Hospitality of the Eastern Nations — Tents — Abraham's Tent 
— Gideon's Oak — Striking the Tents — Customs in dismissing 
Guests - 1 



CHAPTER II. 

Houses — Hangings for Houses — Housetops — Roofs — Walls 

— Gates and Locks — Thresholds — Pavements — Untemper- 
ed Mortar — House-breaking — Stables — House of the Dead 

— Tombs — Temple of Dagon — Tower of Mahanaim (2 Sam., 
xviii.) — Oratories — Kneeling on the Sea-shore - - 12 

# 

CHAPTER III. 

Custom of Women fetching Water — Of offering Water to Trav- 
ellers — Water-carriers — Manner of Washing: the Hands: 
the Feet — Fuel — Young Men and Children taken to carry- 
Wood — Utensils — Mills — Millstones — Kneading-troughs — 
Lamps — Waterpots — Leathern Bottles — Horns — Divans — 
Beds— Seats — Baking — Churning — Strainmg Wine — Pro- 
visions, and Manner of Eating — Men and Women eat sep- 
arately — Invitations — Feasts — Persian Feasts — Egyptian 
Feast — Repasts on the Sea-shore — Feast of Tabernacles — 
The Passover — Weddings — Jewish Wedding — Marriage 
Ceremonies — Births — Manner of announcing them — Cere- 
monies attendant on them — Manner oi carrying Chil- 
dren • --... Sg 



Tl CONTENTS. 



Page 
CHAPTER IV. 

Method of honoring Distinguished Persons — Sending Deputa- 
tions — Riding- — On the Royal Horse — Sending Portions from 
the Tables of Great Men — Fixing a Spear wherever a Person 
of Consequence reposes — Marks of respect — Kissing the 
Feet, Knees, Robe, Beard. Hand, Ground — Concealing the 
Feet — Holding the Feet — Putting off the Shoes — Dismount- 
ing — Tokens of Friendship — White Stone — Presents — Mark 
of Agreement — Customary Salutations ... - 87 



CHAPTER V. 

J^resents — To Friends and Relations — Great Men — Public 
Dancers 105 



CHAPTER VI. 

iDress — Flowing Garments — Hyke — Tunic — Party Colored 
Garments — Arab Cloak — Wedding Garment — Face-Veil — 
Ornaments — Painting the Eyes — Shaving the Beard — Horns 
— Splendor of the Eastern Dresses - . - - 109 



CHAPTER VII. 

^Various Methods of Writing — Written Mountains — Writing- 
Tables — Ancient Books — Manner of Reading — Drawing on 
Tiles — Signet-ring — Sealing — Sacrifices sealed in Egypt 126 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Customs relating to the Dead — Assemblies of Mourners — 
Mourning Women — Mournful Music — Tumultuous Grief of 
-the Mourners — Signs of Grief — Uncovering the Head and 
Feet — Covering the Lips — Funeral Feasts — Idolatrous Cut- 
.tings of the Flesh — Baldness between the Eyes — Forty Days' 
Mourning 136 



CONTENTS. vil 



Pag^e 
CHAPTER IX. 

Method of Travelling — March of the Israelites — Arab Travel- 
ing — Guides — Running Footmen — Manner of Riding — 
Messengers — Highways — Standards - - - 145 



CHAPTER X. 

Agriculture — Ploughshares — Dove-houses for Manure — Pigeon 
Houses in Egypt — Method of Watering — Gathering and 
Winnowing Corn — Threshing Corn — Use of Oxen thereto — 
Hay and Oats — Tares — Mustard-seed — Gardens — Water- 
ing Gardens — Grafting — Vineyards — Vines — Wine-presses 
— Apples 155 



CHAPTER XI. 

Markets — Streets for Trades — Taskmasters — Method of hi- 
ring Laborers — Agreements — Weighing Money — Tax-gath- 
erers — Courts of Justice — Laws — Curious Mode of De- 
cision 171 



CHAPTER XII. 
Flocks and Herds — Sheep and Shepherds ■ — Sheep-folds - 184 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Wells — Fountains, and Drawing Water — Pools of Solomon — 
Mountainous Pastures — Pits — Deserts — Mirage - - 191 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Natural History — Lions — Arabian Horse — Wild Asses — 
White Asses — Dogs — Crocodiles — Storks — Hunting Part- 
ridges — Cock-crowing — Serpents — Scorpions — Mice — Lo- 
custs — Flies — Locust-tree — Salt - - - - 210 



▼m CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XV. ^^^^ 

Climate— Effect of Moonlight — Heat and Cold — Frost and 
Snow — Hail-Storms — Wet Seasons — Rain — Signs of Rain 
— Dry Summer — The Simoon — Waterspouts — Whirlwinds 239 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Modern Tartars — Predatory Character of the Arabs — Their 
Mode of Dwelling and of Flight — Bedouin Encampment — 
Arabs - •••••... gj7 



CHAPTER XVIIi 
Account of the Rechabites - - . . . 270 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Miscellaneous Observations — Leprosy — Eastern Potters — 
Smiting on the Mouth — Significant Actions much used in 
the East — Token of Enmity — Stones Erected as Memorials 

— Eastern Games — Maternal Influence — Shrines ~ Spoils 
suspended in Sacred Places — Sacrifices offered to Idols in 
High Places — Religious Marks — Religious Custom in Judea 

— In China and Persia — Roman Soldiers — Military Subordi- 
nation among the Romans — Barbarous Custom in Warfare — 

Hiding Treasures 273 

Appendix - - - 290 

General Index - . . 310 

Ikdex of Texts Illustrated • 3 IS 




CHAPTER L 

Hospitality of the Eastern Nations — Tents — Abraham's Tent— 
Gideon^s Oak — Striking the tents (Isaiah xxxvii. 12) — Cus- 
toms in Dismissing Guests. 



TENTS— HOSPITALITY. 

Genesis xviii. 1-11. 

Abraham " sat in the tent-door in the heat of the 
day. And he hit up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three 
men stood by him : and when he saw them, he ran to 
meet them from the tent-door, and bowed him.self 
toward the ground, and said. My Lord, if now I have 
found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, 
from thy servant : Let a little water, I pray you, be 
fet'ched^ and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under 
the tree : And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and com 
fort ye your hearts ; after that ye shall pass on. . . 



2 TENTS HOSPITALITY. 

And Abraliam hastened into the tent unto Saran, and said, 
Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead 
it, and make cakes upon the hearth. And Abraham ran 
unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and 
gave it unto a young man : and he hasted to dress it. 
And he took butter and milk, and the calf which he had 
dressed, and set it before them, and he stood by them 
under the tree, and they did eat. And they said unto 
him, Where is Sarah thy wife ? And he said, Behold, 
in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return unto 
thee according to the time of life; and lo, Sarah thy 
wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent- 
door, which w^as behind him." 

The reception met wdlh by an English traveller (Mr. 
Buckingham) in Mesopotamia, from the sheikh (or lord) 
of a Turcoman tent, strongly reminds us of the Scripture 
account of Abraham's hospitality, as w^ell as illustrates 
file patriarchal manner of life, — the " dwellirig in tents." 

Mr. Buckingham was on his way to Orfah, the " Ur" 
if the Bible, and was travelling over a plain which was 
under the direction of the Sheikh, who pitched his tent 
at different periods near all his villages successively. 
" When we alighted at his tent-door," writes Mr. B., 
** our horses w^ere taken from us by his son, a young 
man well dressed. His father was sitting beneath the 
awning in front of the tent itself, and rose up to receive 
us, exchanging the salute of welcome, and not seating 
himself till all his guests were accommodated. The tent 
occupied a space of about thirty feet square, and w^as 
formed by one large awning, supported by twenty-four 
small poles, in four rows of six each, the end of the 
awning being drawn out by cords fastened to pegs in 
the ground — (See Isaiah liv. 2.) Half of this square 
was open in front and at the sides, having two rows of 
poles, clear, and the third row was closed by a reeded 
partition, behind which was the apartment for the females, 
surrounded entirely by the same kind of matting. The 



TENTS HOSPITALITY. O 

sheikh was a fine-looking old man of eighty, with a 
long beard of silvery white. Some of our fellow-traA^ellers 
seeing us, stopped as they passed, alighted likewise, and 
took* their seats' without invitation, all being received 
with the same welcome salute, until the party amounted 
to twenty-six in number. While we were talking, a 
meal was preparing for us within ; and soon afterward, 
warm cakes baked on the hearth, cream, honey, butter, 
raisins, curds, and w^heat boiled in milk, were served to 
the company. Neither the sheikh, nor any of nis 
family partook with us, but stood around to wait on 
their guests, though some beggars and slaves were 
among those who sat down to eat. The reception w^e 
met with was exactly like the picture of the most ancient 
manners of which w^e have any particular account — (See 
Gen. xvii.) The form of Abraham's tent seems to have 
been exactly like the one in which we sat ; for in both 
there w^as a shaded open front, in w^hich he could sit in 
the heat of the day, and yet be seen far oif ; and the 
apartment of the females where Sarah was, within the 
tent, was immediately behind this, in which she prepared 
the meal for the guests, and listened to them." — See 
Buckingham's Travels. 

Herodotus says, ^* In remote times, the families even 
of kings had but little money ; and it was the business 
of the queen herself to cook for her husband." — Book 
viii. cxxxvii. 

A traveller writes : — " A sheikh, w^ho has the com- 
mand of 500 horse, does not disdain to saddle and bridle 
his owm, nor to give him barley and chopped straw. In 
his tent his wife makes the coffee, kneads the dough, and 
superintends the dressing of his victuals ; his daughter 
and kinswomen w^ash the linen, and go with pitchers on 
their heads, and veils over their faces, to draw water 
from fountains. These manners agree precisely w^ith tbs 
descriptions in Homer, and the history of Abraham in 
Genesis." 

The Giecian poefe, Homer and Hesiod, do not speak 



ARAB HOSPITALITY. 



of gold and Sliver money; they express the vahie of 
djmgs, by saymg they are worth so many oxen or sheep 
rhey estimated the riches of a man by the number Sf 
bs flocks, and that of a country by the Jbundar^ce ot'its 
pastures and the quantity of its metals. These obslt 
ic^ns throw great light upon the patriarchal history 
rhe pa narchs occupied the rank of chiefs, or princes 
their substance consisted in their flocks and herds and 
m the occupations and duties of the families of theTur 
coman and Bedoum chiefs of modern times, we W an 
exact transcript of their domestic manners 

Abrahams rank in the country he lived in was that 
of a prince, or emir; and a traveller in the Elst wbn 
visited the camp of tl^ g,eat emir, found he rame hos 
pitality which we read that Abraham showed • and that 
bo h among those Arabs who live in the camp a S 
did ana also m the villages which depend u2 them 
and are under their direction Tl-,o f!.ii ■ ' 

relates to the vUlages Z ^°"°^'"° "''^°^^"* 

" When strangers enter a village, where thev know 
nobody, they inquire for the menzil the place desS 
or the reception of strangers), and dlsire to sL^w" h 
the sheikh (an Eastern ofiicer), who is as the lord of t 
or at least represents his person, and the body of £ 
community. After saluting him they sianify their warn 

Tki 'r.T' " '^ f'PP"^-^ ^"^ lodgVii^he V 1 Ee 
rhe shetkh says they are welcome, and that theu could 
not do ktm a greater pleasure. He then manclS £ 

wnere also they may alight at once, if the sheikh is 
K)t at home and ask for everything they warn V, 

ff sheikh of f;''' "^^ '''■"'^^^'■^ coming they inform 

ing salLd them, aski Ttre/lo d d^^r ^he^^v llag: 
or whether they choose to stay the whole night hefe' 
If they answer they would only ^at a morsel and go 



ARAB HOSPITALITY. Q 

forward, and they choose to stay under some tree a little 
out of the village, the sheikh goes or sends his people 
into the village, to cause a collation to be brought ; and 
in a little time they return vs^ith eggs, butter, curds, honey, 
olives, fruit — fresh or dried, according to the season, 
when they have not time to cook any meat." But if it 
is evening, and the strangers would lodge in the village, 
the women belonging to the sheikh's house, having ob- 
served the number of the guests, never fail to cause 
foivls, sheep, lambs, or a calf, to be killed, according 
to the quantity of meat which will be wanted for tiie 
entertainment of the guests, and of those that are to 
bear them company ; and quicMy make it into soujj, roast 
it, and form out of it many other dishes, w^hich they send 
to the menzil by the sheikh's servants, in wooden bowls, 
which they place on a great round straw mat that usu- 
ally serves them for a table. These being set in order, 
with many others, in which are eggs, cheese, fruit, 
salad, sour curdled milk, &c., the sheikh begs of the 
strangers to sit round the mat, he himself sitting with 
them, together with the other peasants of fashion be- 
longing to the village, in order to do them honor. They 
make no use of knives at table, the meat being all cut 
into little bits." 

Abraham^ s waiting himself upon his guests was in- 
tended to show his extreme reverence for them. The 
Christians in the East often wait themselves upon guests 
of superior rank ; but, otherwise, they sit down, and are 
served by their sons or kinsmen. — See La Roque''s Ac- 
count of the Journey of d'x\rvieux, in Voyage dans Pal- 
estine ; Harmer^s Observations, vol. ii., pp. 81-83. 

Judges vi. 11-19. 
"And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat 
under an oak which was in Ophrah, that, pertained 
unto Joash the Abi-ezrite : and his son Gideon threshed 
wheat .... And the angel of the Lord appeared unto 
him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee .... 

1* 



6 ARAB HOSPITALITl. 

And [Gideon] said unto him, Depart not Jience^ I pray 
thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my pres- 
ent, and set it before thee. And he said, / will tarry 
until thou come again. And Gideon went in, and made 
ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah oi 
flour : the fiesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth 
in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, 
and presented it." 

The conduct of Gideon perfectly agrees with the 
present Ai?ab customs, and is explained by them. Dr. 
Shaw observes in his travels, " Beside a bowl of milk, 
and a basket of figs, raisins, or dates, which upon our 
arrival were presented to us to stay our appetite, the 
master of the tent fetched us from his flock, according 
to the niunber of our company, a kid or a goat, a kmb 
or a sheep, half of which was immediately seethed by 
his wife, and served up with cuscacoe ; the rest was 
made kab-ab, — that is, cut to pieces and roasted, — which 
we reserved for our breakfast or dinner next day.'''' (See 
Dr. Shaw's Preface.) Probably Gideon presented some 
slight refreshment to his heavenly guest, and desired 
him to stay till he could procure something more sub- 
stantial. He then killed a kid, seethed a part of it, and, 
when ready, brought the stewed meat (or broth) in a pot 
with cakes of bread; and the other part, the kab-ab, 
in a basket, for the stranger to carry with him, for some 
after-repast in his journey. At the present time, the 
Arabs, as well those who live in houses as those who 
dwell in tents, leave their guests U7ider a tree, and bring 
their repasts out to them. — Harmer's Observations, vol. 
ii., pp. 88, 89. 

ARAB HOSPITALITY. 

* We found a camp of Bedouins," writes Mr. Madden, 
''who were of the same tribe as our guides, and with 
'■Jiem we remained for the nioht. We did not wait for 



ARAB HOSPITALITY. 7 

an invitation into a tent : we entered the first we met, 
and found a welcome. 

" An Arab woman, who was spinning goat's wool in 
the interior, gave us the salutation of peace, bid us 
sit down, and removed her two children to the next 
tent. I purchased a lamb for dinner, which she roasted 
entire, thrusting a long piece of wood through it, and 
turning it over a brisk fire of chopped straw and camels' 
dung : two little Arabs performed the office of turn- 
spits. The savory odor of my lamb spread through 



--r^^^ i'A.^^N>i^' ^ 




the whole encampment : I was presently surrounded by 
at least a score of Bedouins. I invited their sheikh and 
four of their chief men to dinner ; and with these, and 
my two Bedouin guides, I sat down to my repast. It 
consisted of a lar^e wooden bowl of boiled rice, in the 
centre of which was placed the roasted lamb. I saw the 
eyes of my guests sparkle with pleasure as they surveyed 



8 . ARAB HOSPITALITY. 

he trencher. They all took their long knives out of 
their girdles, and deposited them in a circle on the 
ground ; the sheikh then said grace. In a moment there 
were five-and-thirty or forty fingers plunged into the 
pilau, (see Matt. xxvi. 23,) and speedily as many into 
the lamb ; but all the hurry prevented not the sheikh from 
politely picking out the choicest bits, (see John xiii. 
25-27,) and presenting them to me with his greasy 
fingers. After dinner we sat smoking till ten o'clock. 
Stories were related, and I sang an Arab song, which I 
learned in Upper Egypt, — a favorite air of theirs, — and 
never were people more delighted. The old sheikh act- 
ually besought me to remain with him, promising to give 
me his best Arab horse if I would do so. I was delight- 
ed with their simplicity and hospitality. 

" The Bedouins seldom remain above one month in one 
spot ; they wander about the deserts from well to well. 
When their flocks have eaten up what little verdure 
there is in one place, they strike their tents, and set out 
for another." — Madden' s Travels, voL ii., pp. 185-187, 
189, 191. 

HOSPITALITY OF THE WANDERING TRIBES IN 
PERSIA, Etc. 

" We came," writes Mr. Morier, " to a small plain, 
covered with the black tents and cattle of the Eelauts. 
(Wandering tribes, whose possessions consist of flocks, 
herds, and camels, and who resemble the Turcomans in 
their mode of life, dwelling in tents, and removing from 
place to place according to the seasons, and want of 
pasturage.) Here we had a view of Mount Ararat. 
We went to the largest tent in the plain, and there 
enjoyed an opportunity of learning that the hospitality 
of these people is not exaggerated. As soon as it was 
announced at the tent that strangers were coming, every- 
thing was in motion : some carried our horses to the 
best pastures, others spread carpets for us ; one was 



HOSPITALITY OF WANDERING TRIBES. V 

despatched to the flock to bring a fat lamb, the women 
immediately made preparation for cooking, and we had 
not sat long before two large dishes of stewed lamb, with 
several basins of yaourt, were placed before us. The 
senior of the tribe, an old man, (by his own account, 
indeed, more than eighty-five years of age,) dressed in 
his best clothes, came out to us, and welcomed us to his 
tent with such kindness, yet with such respect, that his 
sincerity could not be mistaken. He was still full of 
aciivity and fire, although he had lost all his teeth, and 
his beard was as white as the snow on the venerable 
mountain near his tent. The simplicity of his manners, 
and the interesting scenery around, reminded me, in the 
strongest colors, of the life of the patriarchs ; and more 
immediately of him whose history is inseparable from 
the mountains of Ararat." — Morier^s Journey through 
Persia. Armenia, (^c, in 1808 and 1809, pp. 308, 309. 

TENTS. 

Isaiah xxxviii. 12. 
" Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a 
shepherd's tent." Or rather, as some more expressively 
translate the verse. " My habitation [that is, my life] is 
departed from me, rolled up as a shepherd's tent." The 
comparison of this life to dwelling in a tent is familiar to 
the writers both of the Old and New Testaments. The 
passage alludes to the custom usual among the Eastern 
nations of striking and rolling up their tents upon the 
eve of departure. 

In the well-watered parts of the country between the 
Euphrates and the Tigris, there are still several tribes 
who support themselves by their horses, their buffaloes, 
. their cows, and by agriculture. Thei]; remove their 
habitations from country to country, according as they 
want lands to till, or pasturage ; it is for this reason we 
sometimes find whole villages, where, the day before, 
there was not a sinoie hut. 



XO TENTS. 

The Bedouins of the desert remove their tents as 
suddenly. " There is something very melancholy," says 
a recent traveller, " in our morning fiittings. The tent- 
^ins are plucked up, and, in a few minutes, a dozen holes, 
a heap or two of ashes, and the marks of the camels' 
knees in the sand, soon to be obliterated, are the only 
traces left of what has been for a while our home. There 
are a thousand allusions to this primitive mansion in 
Scripture, almost unintelligible till familiarity with the 
tent, the camel, and the desert, explains them. I never 
drive in a tent-pin without thinking of Jael £.nd Sisera." 
After reading this, what a depth of meaning we discover 
in the lamentation of Hezekiah, when he says that his 
age is removed, like one of these tents, in an instant, 
and no lasting trace of it remains. — Lord Lindsay^s 
Travels, i. 305. 

MUSIC USED BEFORE JOURNEYS. 

Genesis xxxi. 27. 
" Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal 
away from me , and didst not tell me, that I might have 
sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, 
and with harp ?" 

1 Samuel xviii. 6, 7. 
" And the woman came out to meet King Saul, with 
tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music. And 
the woman answered one another as they played, and 
said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten 
thousands." 

CoLossiANs iii. 16 ; Ephesians v. 19. 
"- Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms 
and hymns, and spiritual songs ; singing with grace in 
your hearts to the Lord." 

In their longer journeys the Eastern people take leave 
of their relations and friends wuth music. Laban, there- 



MUSIC USED BEFORE JOURNEYS. 



ii 



fore, complains, Why didst thou prevent me from 
taking leave of my daughters, going such a journey, 
with all due solemnity, according to the custom of my 
country ? These Eastern songs are frequently extem- 
poraneous. Some travellers, in 1751, were attended by 
a guard of Arab horsemen, and, when the business cyf 
the day was over, these latter sat down in a circle, and, 
while drinking coftee, one of the company amused the 
others with an extempore song or story. Such were the 
songs of the Israelitish women, when they answered each 
other on the tabret ; and in consequence of this Eastern 
custom, St. Paul, exhorts Christians that their songs 
should be spiritual, that with their voice they should 
praise the Lord, and admonish and comfort each other. 
— Harmer'^ s Observations, vol. ii., pp. 194-196. 

St. Paul speaks of psalms, hymns, and songs, in both 
places, alluding to the three kinds of psalms in use among 
the Hebrews 




12 



CHAPTER II. 

Houses — Hangings for Houses — Housetops — Roofs — Walls-' 
Gates and Locks — Thresholds — ^Pavemenls — Untempered Mor- 
tar — Housebreaking — Stables — House of the Dead — Tombs — 
Temple of Dagon — Tower of Mahanaim (2 Sam. xviii.) — Ora- 
tories — Kneeling on the Sea-shore. 

HOUSES. 

2 Kings iv. 10. 
" Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the 
wall ; . . . . and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that 
he shall turn in thither." 

2 Kings ix. 2. 
" Go in, and carry him to a chamber, in a chamber," 
(marg. reading) : or, into the most private chamber. 

Matthew xxiv. 17. 
" Let him which is on the house-top not come down 
to take anything out of his house." 

Acts xx. 8, 9. 
'' And there were many lights in the upper chamber, 
where they were gathered together. And there sat in a 
window a certain young man named Eutychus, being 
fallen into a deep sleep : and as Paul was long preach- 
ing, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the 
third loft and was taken up dead." 

To most of the Eastern houses there is a smaller one 
annexed, which sometimes rises one story higher than 
the house ; at other times, it consists of one or two 
rooms only, and a terrace ; while others that are built 
over the porch or gateway, (see 2 Sam. xviii. 33,) have, 
except the ground-floor, all the conveniences that belong 
to the house, properly so called. There is a door of 
communication from them into the gallery of the house, 
beside another door which opens immediately from a 



HOUSES. 13 

private staircase down into the porch or street, without 
giving the least disturbance to the house. So that he 
which was on the housetop might run down immediately 
without ooiiior into his house.* In these back-houses, 
as we may call them, strangers are usually lodged and 
entertained ; and the men also are wont to retire there, 
from the hurry and noise of their families, for medita- 
tion or diversion. The upper chamber where Tabitha 
was laid (Acts ix. 37), and where Eutychus also fell 
down from the third loft (Acts xx. 8, 9, &c.), were so 
many back-houses or private apartments." To one of 
these our Lord retired, to eat the passover with his dis- 
ciples. — See Dr. Shaw's Travels, pp. 280, 281. 

Jowett describes his residence at Haivali in Greece,, 
as illustrating this passage ; and it is descriptive of the 
generality of eastern houses. The ground floor was 
used as a store. The first floor consisted of an humble 
suite of rooms for daily use. On the upper floor the 
rooms were large and elegant ;' tiie windows in front 
projected and overhung the street; round the room, and 
particularly in the windows, was a raised step or divan, 
for the more distinguished guests ; and when the com- 
pany was numerous, they placed cushions for a second 
row of persons. Thus Eutychus would le on a level 
with the open window, and might easily fall out. He 
also notices the great plenty of oil in that neighborhood, 
which would enable them to have many lamps, and the 
heat would increase the drowsiness of the youth, and 
account for the window being open. — See note on this 
verse in Henry and Scotfs Commentary. 

HANGINGS OF NEEDLEV70RK. 

Exodus xxvi. 36. 
" Thou shalt make a hanging for the door of the 
tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined 
linen wrought with needlework." 

* At the time of an earthquake at Aleppo, Mr. Barker ran into 
the street when he felt the shock, without going through the house. 



14 



HANGINGS OF NEEDLEWORK. 



Mr. Morier, while travelling in Persia, passed several 
encampments of the Eelauts (or wandering tribes). He • 
writes : ^' We stopped to examine the tent of the chief 
of the family, at one of these encampments. It was 
composed of a wooden frame of circular lath, which was 
fixed on the ground, and then covered over with large 
felts, that were fastened down by a cord (Isaiah liv. 2), 
ornamented by tassels of various colors. A curtain, 
curiously worked by the women with coarse needlework 
of various colors, was suspended over the door. In the 
king of Persia's tents, magnificent hangings of needle- 
work are suspended, as well as on the doors of the great 
mosques in Turkey." — Morier^ s Second Journey through 
Persia, c^c, p. 251. 




15 



HOUSETOPS. 

Acts x. 9. 
" Peter went up upon the housetop to pray." 

Luke v. 19. 
" They went up upon the housetop, and let him down 
through the tiling with his couch, into the midst before 
Jesus." 

Deut. xxii. 8. 
" When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt 
make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood 
upon thine house, if any man fall from thence." 

The tops of the Eastern houses are always flat, and 
covered with plaster or terrace. These terraces or 
roofs are used for many family purposes — drying linen 
or flax (Josh. ii. 6, &c.), and in the summer time for sleep- 
ing on (2 Sam. xi. 2). Here, too, the Eastern people 
enjoy the evening air, and converse (Luke xii. 3). Here, 
too, they sometimes pray, and here the booths were made 
for the feast of tabernacles. The roofs are generally 
surrounded by a parapet or wall breast-high ; but instead 
of this, some terraces are guarded with balustrades only, 
or latticed work. Of the same kind, probably, was the 
lattice through which Ahaziah fell (2 Kings i. 2). This 
incident proves the necessity of the law for the forma- 
tion of battlements for the roof, which God graciously 
gave from Mount Sinai, which furnishes a beautiful 
example of his paternal care and goodness. These 
hattlemeiits are the low walls or parapets before men- 
tioned. 

The Eastern houses (as in Bagdad) consist of ranges 
cf apartments opening into a court within the building ; 
the rooms underground are occupied when the heat is 
intense : and from these, in the cool of the evening, the 
families go up on the terraces. The houses are not 
nearly so high as ours, and several families inhabit fre- 



16 



HOUSETOPS. 



quently one house. Two and three stories high is about 
the height of the houses, at least some are as high as 
this. There are also galleries round the court. In 
these courts, on occasion of a feast, or when many 
persons met together, it was usual for them to be enter- 
tained — the courts being covered with mats and carpets, 
and an awning stretched overhead to keep out sun or 




rain. It was probably here that our Lord often taught 
his disciples, and those who came to hear him ; and here, 
many think the man sick of the palsy was brought to 
him, being let down from the housetop into the midst of 
those who were in the court, the covering being removed; 
for the word translated tiling, or roof, means also a cover- 
ing. But if, as others think, the sick man was let down 
through the roof of the house into a room where Jesus 
was, this, also, would have been easily done. A mis 
sionary in the East, the Rev. J. Hartley, writes in his 
travels : " When I lived at iEgina, I used to look up 



HOUSETOPS. 17 

not unfrequently at the roof above my head, and con- 
template how easily the whole transaction might take 
place. The roof was made in the following manner : 
a layer of reeds of a large species was placed upon the 
rafters ; on these a quantity of heather was strewed ; on 
the heather earth was deposited, and beaten down into a 
solid mass. Now, what difficulty would there be in 
removing first the earth, next the heather, and then the 
reeds ; nor would the difficulty be increased, if lAe earth 
had a pavement of tiling laid upon it. No inconvenience 
could result to the persons in the house, from the removal 
of the tiles and earth, for the heather and reeds would 
stop anything that might otherwise fall down, aud would 
be removed last of all." — See Hartley^s Researches in 
Greece. 

Isaiah xxii. 1. 

" What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up 
to the housetops V^ 

Matthew xxiv. 17. 

" Let him which is on the housetop not come down." 

Isaiah is here describing the state of a city on a 
sudden alarm. Mr. Hartley says, " It is customary in 
Turkey, on every alarm of fire, for all persons instantly 
to go to the top of the house, in order from that height 
to discover the direction in which the fire has made its 
appearance. Very frequently the cry ' Fire !' startles 
the sleeping inhabitants of a town from their slumbers, 
and gives a practical illustration of the scriptural lan- 
guage, ' Why art thou wholly gone up to the house- 
tops V " — Hartley's Greece. 

Matthew x. 27. 
" What ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the 
housetops." 

The expression, " that preach ye upon the house- 
tops," appears nothing unnatural to those who daily see 
these houses. They are low and flat-roofed, and would 

2* 



18 



HOUSETOPS. 



give an opportunity to speak to many on the house and 
many in the court below. — Jowett's Researches. 

Eusebius, in his Church History (ii. 23), tells us, that 
the Pharisees who had a design upon the life of St 
James, the brother of our Lord, and bishop of Jerugalem, 
persuaded him to preach to the people when assembled 
at the passover, from the battlements of the temple ; 
alluding to this custom of proclaiming from the house- 
top whatever was to be made known far and wide. 




EASTERN ROOFS. 

Psalm cxxix. 6. 
" Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which 
withereth afore it groweth.up. 

The following passage occurs in Jowetfs Christian 
Rf.searches^ in his Journal of a Visit to Syria and the 
Holy Land : " October 8th. This evening the season 



EASTERN ROOFS. 19 

broke. Thunder, and lightning, and rain, came from 
the west. The whole prospect became dreary and 
cheerless. In the morning of this day, — not an hour 
too soon, — the master of the house had laid in a stock 
of earth ; which was carried up, and spread evenly 
upon the roof of the house, which is flat. The whole 
roof is thus formed of mere earth, laid on and rolled 
hard and flat, — not, as in Malta, of a composition which 
is smooth and impenetrable, and thus receives the rain- 
water, and carries it ofl' into the tanks under the house. 
There is no want of flowing water in this mountainous 
country, as there is in Malta. On the top of every 
house is a large stone roller, for the purpose of harden- 
ing and flattening this layer of rude soil, so that the 
rain may not penetrate : hut upon this surface, as may 
be supposed, grass and weeds grow freely. It is to such 
grass that the Psalmist alludes, as useless and bad, ' Let 
them be as the grass upon the house-tops, which v/ither- 
eth afore it groweth up.' " — See Rev. W. Jowett's Chris- 
tian Researches, and Journal of a Visit to Syria and the 
Holy Land. 

WALLS. 

Deuteronomy i. 28. 
" The cities are great and walled up to heaven." 

If they raised up anciently the walls of their cities so 
high as not to be liable to be scaled, they thought them 
safe ; the same simple contrivance is to this day sufli- 
cient to guard places from the Arabs, who live in the 
very wilderness in which Israel wandered when the spies 
discouraged them by saying, " The cities are walled up 
to heaven," — and who are a nation more inured to war- 
like enterprises than the Israelites were. 

*' The great monastery at Mount Sinai," Thevenot says, 
" is well built of good freestone, with, very high smooth 
walls. On the east side there is a window, by which 
those that were within drew up pilgrims into the monas- 



20 



WALLS. 



teiy witli a basket, which they let down by a rope 
that rims in a pulley, to be seen above at the window, 
and the pilgrims went into it one after another. [In 




^V^;u.A^-;^^^a?r« 



something of this way St. Paul must have been let doiim 
the walls of Damascus, which were low.] These walls 
are so high that they cannot be scaled, and without 
cannon the place cannot be taken." — See Harmer\s Oh- 
servations, vol. i., pp. 390, 391. 



GATES— LOCKS. 

Acts xii. 10. 
*' When they were past the first and the second ward, 
they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city." 

Vain would have been the precaution of building 
their walls high, unless the gates had been well secured 



GATES LOCKS. 



21 



jilso. One of the means whereby they secure thera now 
is the plating them over with thick iron. Algiers has 
five gates ; and some of these have two, some three 
gates within them, and some of them plated all over with 
thick iron. After this manner the place where St. Peter 
was imprisoned seems to have been secured. 







(£ 



=2sis: 



75itfc 



Their locks and keys are often only of Avood. Tko 
keys of the city-gates of Grand Cairo are bits of timbei, 
with little pieces of wire, that lift up other pieces of wire 
which are in the lock, and enter into certain little Jwles, 
out of which the ends of wire that are in the key having 
thrust them, the gate is opened. But, without the key, 
a little soft paste upon the end of one's finger will do the 
matter qu te as well. The ease with which these locks 
are opened without a key, puts us in mind of the words 
(Canticles v. 4), " My beloved put in his hand hy the 
liole^^ &c. ; he attempted to open the door by putting in 
his finger at the key-hole, but could not. ^' Then I was 
greatly moved ; I rose up to open to my beloved ;" and, 
as in verse 1 he had cjaid " I have gathered myrrh," so 



22 . . GATES LOCKS. 

having tried to open the door with a hand filled with this 
precious gum, the spouse, when she went to the door, 
found that her fingers gathered it up from the handles 
of the lock : in the language of poetry, " her hand drop- 
ped myrrh, her fingers sweet-smelling myrrh." (Verse 5,) 
— See Harmer's Observations^ vol. i., pp. 392-396. 

EzEKTEL xliv. 2, 3. 
" This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and 
no man shall enter in by it ; because the Lord, the God 
of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. 
It is for the prince." 

It is a common custom in Persia, when a great man 
has built a palace, that he treats the king and his 
grandees in it for several days : then the great gate of 
it is open : but, when these festivities are over, they shut 
it up, never more to he opened. — Sir J. Chardin ; Har- 
mer's Observations, vol ii., pp. 475, 476. 

THRESHOLDS. 

EzEKiEL xliii. 8. 
" In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, 
and their post by my posts, .... they have even de- 
filed my holy name." 

The threshold is the place where honor is more par- 
ticularly paid to the living and the dead in some parts 
of the East. The Persians prostrate themselves on the 
tlireshold of their sacred tombs ; and princes also are 
thus honored. 

The posts of the temple of God appear to have been 
honorable places ; for near one of them, in the taber- 
nacle, Eli, the high-priest, sat (1 Sam, i. 9). When 
the idolatrous temples, therefore, were set up, the idol- 
priests may have been seen seated by the posts, in imita- 
tion and mockery of the high-priests of Jehovah. — 
Harmer''s Observations, vol. ii. 496-499. 



23 

PAVEMENTS. 

Exodus xxiv. 10. 

" And they saw the God of Israel : and there was 
under his feet as it were a paved vfork of a sapphire 
stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.'* 

Polished marble was not used in the days of Moses 
for pavements. He refers to the most splendid floors 
which Egypt then knew, and which were formed of 
painted tiles (or bricks). These tiles were the color 
of hlue (the sapphire stone being blue) in the pavement 
Moses saw. And Le Bruyn tells us, that the mosque 
at Jerusalem is almost all covered over with green and 
blue bricks, which are glazed ; so that, when the sun 
shines the eye is perfectly dazzled. But as these bricks 
are not transparent, Moses, in order to describe the 
pavement under the feet of the God of Israel with due. 
majesty, represents it as like the floors of painted tile hf 
had seen, but transparent as the body of heaven. — Sei 
Le Bruyn, tom. ii. ; Harmed s Observations, vol. i., pp 
359-361. 

UNTEMPERED MORTAR. 

EzEKiEL xiii. 11. 
" Say unto them which daub it with untempered mor* 
tar, that it shall fall : there shall be an overflowino 
shower ; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall ; and a 
storiry wind shall rend it." 

The Eastern walls, and even the great houses, are in 
some places built only of mud or clay, formed into the 
shape of bricks, and dried in the sun. These materials 
make the streets dusty when there is wind, and dirty 
when there is rain. (Zech. ix. 3.) 

A traveller has taken notice of the mouldering down 
of some Eastern buildings upon a shower of rain, as an 
illustration of the untempered mortar of which Ezekiel 
speaks. " The rains cause the walls to fall, which are 
built of clay, the mortar plastering dissolving. This 
plaster hinders the water from penetrating the bricks ; 



24 UNTEMPERED MORTAR. 

but when the plastering has been soaked with wet, the 
wind cracks it, and occasions the rain in some succeed- 
insf shower to get betv/een, and dissolve everything " 
lliis account explains also the reason of the breaches 
and clefts mentioned by the prophet Amos (vi. 11 ; Isa. 
XXX. 13). Still many buildings are made of stone ; as 
they were in the days of Moses in the land of Canaan. 
(Lev. xiv. 40). The Eastern mortar is very durable, 
and is composed of one part of sand, two of wood-ashes^ 
and three of lime, which is beaten for three days and 
nights with mallets, after being well mixed together. In 
some countries this mortar is trodden, which Malachi 
alludes to in ch. iv. 3. — See Hariner^s Observations, vol. 
i., pp. 349-353. 

MANNER OF BREAKING INTO EASTERN HOUSES. 

Matthew xxiv. 43. 
" But know this, that if the good-man of the house 
bad known in what watch the thief would come, he would 
have watched, and would not have suffered his house to 
be broken up" (or, to be dug through). 

In entering premises by burglary, the Easterns do net 
break through doors or windows, for these are not easily 
accessible, but they make their ^vay through the walls. 
The words *' break through," and " broken up," properly 
mean, to " dig through." The Eastern houses are not 
in general built like ours, of burnt bricks or stone, but 
of dried clay ; or, if of bricks, they are merely hardened 
in the sun, but not burnt ; and it was the manner of 
house-robbers to enter them by perforating the walls. 
It has been particularly remarked, that the Arabians, 
Egyptians, and inhabitants of Damascus, still build of 
mud, and slime, and nnburnt brick, and that their walls 
are of great thickness. — Weekly Visiter. 

STABLES. 
Luke ii. 7. 
" A-Tid she brought forth her first-born son, and 



STABLES. 



25 



wrapped him in swaddling-clothes, and laid him in a 
manger ; because there was no room for them in the inn.'' 
Mangers, such as we have in England, are not 
known in the East, where there is no hay ; but in their 
stables, which word is meant in this passage rather than 
manger, are stone-troughs, or holes of stone, in which 
they lay the fodder, and which are large enough to lay a 
child in. In one of these the blessed Jesus was laid, 
because there was no room for him in the inn. — Dr 
Russell ; Harmer's Observations, vol. ii., p. 202, note. 




HOUSE OF THE DEAD. 

1 Samuel xxv. 1. 
*' And Samuel died ; and all the Israelites were gath- 
ered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his 
house at Ramah." 

9 



26 HOUSE OF THE DEAD. 

1 Kings ii. 34. 
-'^ So Benaiali, the son of Jehoiada, went up, and fell 
upon him, and slew him ; and he was buried in his own 
house in the wilderness." 

Job XXX. 23. 
" For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and 
lO the house appointed for all living." 

" While walking out, one evening, a few fields' dis- 
tance from Deir el Kamr (on Mount Lebanon), with 
the son of my host, to see a detached garden belonging 
to his father, he pointed out to me, near it, a small solid 
stone building, apparently a house, very solemnly adding, 
' The sepulchre of our family.' It had neither door nor 
window. He then directed my attention to a consider- 
able number of similar buildings at a distance, which, 
to tlie eye, are exactly like houses, but which are, in 
fact, family mansions for the dead. They have a most 
melancholy appearance, which made him shudder as he 
explained their use. They seem, by their dead walls, 
which must be opened at each several interment of the 
members of a family, to say, ' This is an unkindly house, 
to which visiters do not willingly throng — but one by 
one, they will be forced to enter, and none who enter 
come out again.' Perhaps this custom, which prevails 
particularly at Deir el Kamr, and in the lonely neigh- 
boring parts of the mountain, may have been of great 
antiquity, and may serve to explain some Scripture 
phrases. The prophet Samuel was buried in his house 
at Ramah — it would hardly be in his dwelling-house, 
Joab was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 
This is the house appointed for all living." — Jowett^s Re^ 
searches. 

EASTERN TOMBS. 

Matthew xxiii. 27, 29. 
*' Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! 
^or ye are like unto whited sepulchres [washed over 



EASTERN TOMBS. 



27 



with white Hme] v/hich indeed appear beautiful outward, 
but are within fall of dead men's bones, and of all un- 

cleanness 

" Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! 
because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish 
the sepulchres of the righteous. . . ?' 



^ J %.^^j^_^ 




If we except a few persons, who are buried within the 
precincts of some sanctuary, the rest are carried out at 
a small distance from their cities and villages, where a 
great extent of ground is allotted for that purpose. Each 
family has a particular portion of it, walled in like a 



28 EASTERN TOMBS. 

garden, where the bones of their ancestors have remained 
undisturbed for many generations. For in these enclo- 
sures the gra\^es are all distinct and separate, having 
each of them a stone placed upright, both at the head 
and feet, inscribed with the name of the person who lies 
interred there ; while the intermediate space is either 
planted with flowers, bordered round with stone, or paved 
all over with tiles. The graves of the principal citizens 
are further distinguished by some square chambers oi 
cupolas that are built over them. Now, as all these dif- 
ferent sorts of tombs and sepulchres, with the very walls 
likewise of the enclosures, are constantly kept clean, 
whitewashed and beautified, they continue to this day to 
be an excellent comment upon that expression of our 
Savior, where he mentions the garnishing of the sepul- 
chres, and again where he compares the scribes, Phari- 
sees, and hypocrites, to whited sepulchres, which indeed 
appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead 
men's bones, and all uncleanness. For the space of 
two or three months after any person is interred, the 
female relations go once a week to weep over the grave. 
— -See Dr, Shaw's Travels, p. 285. 



JEWISH SEPULCHRES. 

Mark v. 2-5. 
" And when Jesus was come out of the ship, imme- 
diately there met him out of the tombs a man with an 
unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs ; 
. . . .and always, night and day, he was in the mount- 
ains, and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with 
stones." 

Speaking of the Mount of Judgment, directly oppo- 
site Jerusalem, Mr. Carne writes : " The most interest- 
ing portion of this hill is where its rocks descend precipi- 
tously into the valley of Hinnom. All these rocks are 
hewn into sepulchres of various forms and sizes. No 



JEWISH SEPULCHRES. 



29 



doubt they were the tombs of the ancient Jews, and are in 
general cut with considerable care and skill. They are 
often the resting-place of the benighted passenger. Some 
of them open into inner apartments, and are provided 




With small wdndow^s or apertures cut in the rock. There 
is none of the sadness or darkness of the tomb ; but, in 
many, so elevated and picturesque is the situation, that a 
traveller may pass hours here with a book in his hand, 
while valley and hill are beneath and around him. Be- 
fore the door of one large sepulchre stood a tree on the 
brink of the rock : the sun was going down on Olivet on 
the right, and the resting-place of the dead commanded 
a sweeter scene than any of the abodes of the living. 
Many of the tombs have flights of steps leading up to 
them." — Camels Eastern LeMers, pp. 292, 293. 

Matthew xxvii. 59, 60. 
"And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped 
3* 



30 . JEWISH SEPULCHRES. 

it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new toml>, 
which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great 
stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed." 
John xix. 41, 42. 
" Now in the place where Jesus was crucified, there 
was a garden, and in the garden a new sepujchre : . . . 
there laid they Jesus." 

Dr. Clarke, during his visit to Jerusalem, writes 
thus : " Having quitted the city by what is called Sion 
Gate, we descended into a dingle or trench, called To- 

phet or Gehinnom As we reached the bottom of 

this narrow dale, sloping toward the Valley of Jehosha- 
phat, we observed upon the sides of the opposite mount- 
s in (which appears to be the same called by Sandys the 
Hill of Offence*), facing Mount Sion, a number of excava- 
tions in the rock. We rode toward them, their situation 
being very little elevated above the bottom of the dingle, 
upon its southern side. When we arrived. . . . alighting 
from our horses, we found we should have ample em- 
ployment in their examination. They were all of the 
same kind of workmanship, exhibiting a series of subter- 
ranean cham_bers, hewn with marvellous art, each con- 
taining one or many repositories for the dead, like cisterns 
carved in the rock upon the sides of those chambers.! 
The doors were so low, that, to look into any one of 
them, it was necessary to stoop, and, in some instances, 
to creep upon our hands and knees ; these doors were also 
grooved forthe reception of immense stones, once squared 
and fitted to the grooves, by way of closing the entrances. 
Of such a nature were, indisputably, the tombs of the 
sons of Heth, of the kings of Israel, of Lazarus, and of 
Christ. The cemeteries of the ancients were universally 
excluded from the precincts of their cities The 

* The same as the Mount of Judgment. 

f In the writings of the prophets frequent allusions occur to 
similar places of burial : thuS;, Isaiah xiv. 15,18; Ezekielxxxii 
23, &c. 



JEWISH SEPULCHRES. 3i 

sepulchres we are now describing bear, in their very 
nature, satisfactory proof of their being situate out of the 
ancient city, ^as they are now out of the modern. The 
sepulchres themselves are, according to the ancient cus- 
tom, stationed in the midst of gardens. From all these 
circumstances, are we not authorized to look here for the 
sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea, who, as a pious Jew, 
necessarily had his burying-place in the cemetery of his 
countrymen, among the graves of his forefathers ? The 
Jews are remarkable for their rigid adherence to this 
custom. They adorned their burial-places with trees 
and gardens ; and the tomb of this Jew is accordingly 
described as being in ^ a garden,' ' in the place where our 
Savior was crucified.' (John xix. 41.) It is, moreover, 
worthy of observation, that every one of the Evangelists 
(and among them he that ' sa^^ it,' and ' bear record') 
affirm, that the place of crucifixion was * the place of a 
scull ;' that is to say, a public cemetery,* ' called in the 
Hebrew Golgotha,' without the city, and very near to 
one of its gates. St. Luke calls it ' Calvary,' which has 
the same signification. It may, therefore, be surmised, 
that upon the opposite summit, now called Mount Sion, 
without the walls, the crucifixion of the Messiah was 
actually accomplished. Perhaps some evidences that we 
obtained may farther illustrate this most interesting sub- 
ject. Upon all the sepulchres at the base of this mount 
(which, as ' the place of a scull,' we have the authority 
of Scripture for calling either Calvary or Golgotha wheth- 
er it be the place of crucifixion or not) there are inscrip- 
tions in Hebrew and in Greek. The Hebrew inscriptions 
are the most effaced : of these it is difficult to make any 
tolerable copy. The Greek inscriptions are brief ana 
legible ; they consist of immense letters, deeply carA^ed 
in the face of the rock, either over the door, or by the 
side, of the sepulchres, .... 

* Not necessarily a public cemetery ; more probably a place of 
execution, as the best writers think. Some suppose it to be called 
the place of a scull, from its resemblance to a human scull. 



32 JEWISH SEPULCHRES. 

'' Having entered by the door of this sepulchre, we 
found a spacious chamber cut in the rock, connected with 
a series of other subterraneous apartments, and con- 
taining an extensive range of receptacles for the dead. 
Opposite to the entrance, but lower down in the rock, a 
second and a similar aperture led to another chamber 
beyond the first. When we had penetrated to the ex- 
tremit}^ of this second chamber, we could proceed no 
farther, owing to the rubbish which obstructed our pas- 
sage. It was evident that we had not reached the re- 
motest part of these caverns. There were others with 
similar Greek inscriptions, and one which particularly 
attracted our notice, from its extraordinary coincidence 
with all the circumstances connected with the history of 
our Savior's tomb. The large stone that once closed its 
mouth, had been, perhaps for ages, rolled away. Stoop- 
ing down to look into it, we observed within a fair sep- 
ulchre, containing a repository upon one side only, for a 
single body ; whereas, in most of the others, there were 
two, and in many of them, more than two. It is placed 
exactly opposite to the hill which is now called Mount 
Sion. As we viewed this sepulchre, and read upon the 
spot the description given of the coming of Mary Mag- 
dalene and the disciples, in the morning (John xx.), it 
was difficult to divest the mind of the probability that 
here might have been the identical tomb of Jesus Christ ; 
and that up the steep which led to it, after descending 
from the gate of the city, the disciples strove together, 
when ' John did outrun Peter, and came first to the 
sepulchre' " (John xx. 4). — Clarke's Travels, vol. iv » 
pp. 321-328. 



TEMPLE OF DAGON. 

Judges xvi. 27-30. 
" And there were upon the roof about three thousand 

men and women And Samson took hold of the 

two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on 



TEMPLE OF DAGON. 33 

vhich it was borL^. up And he bowed himself 

?ith all his might, and the house fjgll." 

" Samson must have been in a court or area below ; 
and consequently the temple will be of the same kind 
with the ancient sacred enclosures, which were only sur- 
rounded either in part, or on all sides, with some plain 
or cloistered buildings. Several palaces [doutwanas, as 
the courts of justice are called in these countries), are 
buijt in this fashion. On their public festivals and re 
j(>icings, the roofs of these cloisters are crowded with 
spectators, while a great quantity of sand is strewed upOE' 
the area for the wrestlers to fall upon. I have often seen 
numbers of people diverted in this manner on the roof 
of the dey's palace at Algiers ; which, like many oth- 
ers, has an advanced cloister over against the gate of 
the palace, like a long pent-house, supported by one or 
two contiguous pillars in the front or centre. In such 
open structures as these, in the midst of their guards and 
counsellors, are the pachas, kadees, and other great 
officers, assembled to distribute justice, and transact the 
public affairs of their provinces. Here, likewise, they 
have their public entertainments, as the lords and others 
of the Philistines had in the house of Dagon. If in this 
last, there was a structure of this kind, the pulling down 
of the front or centre pillars only, which supported it, 
would be attended with the like catastrophe that hap- 
pened to the Philistines." — Dr. Shaw ; Harmer's Oh- 
servations^ vol. i., pp. 319, 320. 

TOWER AT MAHANAIM. 

2 Samuel xviii. 24-33 ; xix. 8. 
" And David sat between the two gates : and the 
watchmen went up to the roof over the gate unto the 
wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and uehold a 

man running alone And the watchman cried 

and told the king And the watchman saw an- 
other man runninof, and the watchman called unto the 



34 



TOWER AT MAHANAIM. 



porter, and said, Behold another man running alone. 

A.nd the king said, ^e also bringeth tidings 

And Ahimaaz called, and said unto the king, All is 

well And, behold, Cushi came And 

the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom 
safe ? And Cushi answered. The enemies of my lord 

iho king, be as that young man is. And the 

king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over 
the gate and wept : and as he went, thus he said, my 

son Absalom ! &c Then the king arose, and sat 

in the gate. And they told unto all the people saying, 
Behold, the king doth sit in the gate ; and all the people 
came before the kino." 




_-.!S&=^ 



There is an account of an old castle at Tunbridge, in 
Kent, which may serve to explain the way in which the 



TOWER AT MAHANAIM. 35 

4.ower of entrance in which King David sat at Mahanaim, 
was built. 

In this castle there is a noble room over the gateway, 
having two fine large windows. After the first gate 
(which is of enormous size), is the tower entrance, there 
is a pair of strong gates, and a few feet farther, another 
pair of strong gates, and between these two pairs of 
gates are two small doorways, one on each side, which 
lead to two rooms, one on each side of the gateway. Two 
more rooms are over these, and above them the grand 
state-room, to which they ascended by staircases, to 
which they went through the lower rooms ; and from the 
state-room, staircases led to the leads, or open top of 
the building. 

Now, in looking at the account given us in 2 Samuel 
xviii. and xix. we see the tower of entrance into Maha- 
naim furnished, like the castle at Tunbridge, with two 
pairs of gates, the one at a distance from the other, the 
king sitting between them, not, we may justly believe, 
in the passage itself, so as to block up the way, or at all 
incommode those who might be passing, but in a room 
by the side of the way. We find a watchman on the top 
of the tower, made, without doubt, commodious for that 
purpose, by the staircases communicating with each other 
trom the bottom to the top, as the English castle was 
flat, and covered with lead for the purpose of descrying 
at a distance those who were coming, as well as wound- 
ing assailants. We find the observations made by the 
watchman were not communicated by him immediately 
to the king, but by the warder at the outer gate ; and 
that there was a communication between this lower room, 
in which David first sat, and the upper room over the 
gateway, for by that means he retired to give vent to 
his sorrow. See a paper written by WIr, King, in the 
ArchcBologia. Harmer^s Observations^ vol. i., pj» 416- 
420. 



36 



ORATORIES. 

Acts xvi. 13. 
" And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a 
river-side, where prayer was wont to be made '' 

Acts xxi. 5. 
" And we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed." 

It was the custom of the Jews to have their oratories, 
or places of prayer, by the river-side ; and to such a 
place the first of these verses probably alludes. In the 
second, Paul and his companions appear simply to have 
kneeled upon the shore ; and this, as s. practice, is by no 
means uncommon in the East. " Just after sunset 
(writes a traveller in Egypt), when the last and loveliest 
hues are cast over the silent Egyptian scenery — or more 
often when the moon has spread her brilliant light on 
the river and shore, the Turks and Arabs come to the 
water's edge, and heedless of the traveller beside them, 
spread their cloak on the bank, and are for some time 
entirely absorbed in their devotions." — Camels Eastern 
Letters, pp. 127, 128. 

The more ordinary posture at prayer among the Jews 
was standing ; but in their confessions, supplications, and 
deprecations, and in times of mourning and affliction, 
they fell down upon their knees, and bowed their faces 
to the ground. The great sorrow which affected the 
Ephesian elders at their parting with St. Paul is expressly 
related, Acts xx. 36-38. The Tyrian disciples, doubt- 
less, were not less deeply affected; for the Holy Spirit 
had made known to them the difficulties and dangers he 
was to undergo at Jerusalem. The sea-shore was 
esteemed by the Jews a place most pure, and, therefore, 
proper to offer up their prayers and thanksgivings to 
Almighty God. Philo tells us that the Jews of Alex- 
andria, when Flaccus, the governor of Egypt, who had 
"been their great enemy, was arrested by order of the 
Emperor Caius, not being able to assemble at their syna 



ORATORIES. 



37 



gogues, which had been taken from them, crowded out 
at the gates of the city early in the morning, went to the 
neighboring shores, and standing in a most pure place, 
with one accord lifted up their voices in praising God. 
Tertullian says, that the Jews, in his time, when they 
kept their great fast, left their synagogues, and on every 
shore sent forth their prayers to Heaven. And in an- 
other place, among the ceremonies used by the Jews, he 
mentions the prayers they made upon the shores. And 
long before Tertullian's time there was a decree made at 
Halicarriassus in favor of the Jews, which, among other 
privileges, p^lov^s them to say their prayers near the 
shore, accoruii.g to the custom of the country. — Bisco^ 
on the Acts, pp. 250-252. 




38 



CHAPTER III. 



Custom of Women fetching Water— Of offering Water to trav- 
ellers — Water-Carriers — Manner of Washing : the Hands ; the 
Peet — Fuel — Young Men and Children taken to carry Wood- 
Utensils — Mills — Mill-stones — Kneading-Troughs — Lamps 

Waterpots — Leathern Bottles— Horns — Divans — Beds — Seats 
— Baking — Churning — Straining Wine — Provisions, and Man- 
ner of Eating — Men and Women eat separately — Invitations — 
Feasts — Persian Feasts — Egyptian Feast — Repast on the Sea- 
shore—Feasts of Tabernacles — The Passover — Weddings — 
Jewish Wedding — Marriage Ceremonies — Births — Manner of 
Announcing them — Ceremonies attendant on them-^Manner. of 
carrying Children. 



WATER DRAWN BY WOMEN. 

1 Samuel ix. 11. 
" And as they went up the hill to the city, they found 
^ung maidens going out to d7'aw water J^ 

Genesis xxiv. 11-22. 
" And he made his camels to kneel down without the 
city, by a well of water, at the time of the evening, even 
the time that women go out to draw water. And he 
said, Behold, I stand here by the well of water ; and the 
daughters of the men of the city come out to draw 
water. . . . And it came to pass, that, behold Rebekah 
came out ; and the damsel was very fair to look upon, a 
virgin. . . . And the man took a golden ear-ring of half 
a shekel weighty and two bracelets for her hands of ten 
shekels weight of gold " 

It is the business of the women in the East io fetch 
water. This they do in the cool of the mornings and 



\ 



WATER DRAWN BY WOMEN. 



39 



evenino-s, at which times g^^eat numbers of females are 
seen going together on this employment. It is princi- 
pally the girls who draw water, though they generally 
have with them one or more grown persons ; and some- 
times the married women go out, tying their sucking 
children behind them. When thus engaged, the Eastern 
women are much adorned ; sometimes with trinkets of 
very great value : it was not, therefore, strange in the 
servant to put ornaments on Rebecca, when she came 
forth to draw water. — Dr. Shaw ; Dr. Russell ; Sir J. 
Chardin. 




John iv. 7. 
• There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. " 



There is one set of images and delightful illustra- 
tions, meeting the eye at every turn in India, which I 



40 



WATER DRAWN BY WOMEN. 



have never seen any person so insensible as not to attend 
to with unaffected interest. I allude to those numerous 
every-day customs of the East so often mentioned in the 
Scriptures, and with which our minds have become famil- 
iar from earliest infancy. Before visiting Eastern coun- 
tries, we almost fancy that because the events related in 
the Bible have passed away and become matter of history, 
so also must the customs have disappeared which served 
as familiar illustrations between man and man, or between 
our Savior and those whom it was the object of his 
mission to impress with his doctrine. We are apt to be 
startled, therefore, when we find ourselves actually sur- 
rounded by scenes almost identical with those described 
in the Bible. Be all this as it may, I could never see 
a Hindoo female sitting by the steps of a well in India, 
with her arm thrown wearily over the unfilled water-pot, 
without thinking of the beautiful story of the woman ol 
Samaria ; the association being, perhaps, helped by the 
recollection of a picture,^ in which the figures and the 
scenery are represented quite in the Eastern style, such 
as I ^was now beholding it for the first time.—Basil 
HalVs Fragments of Voyages and Travels, vol. iii„ pp. 
23-25. ^^ 

HINDOO CUSTOM OF OFFERING WATER TO 
TRAVELLERS. 

Mark ix. 41. 
" For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink 
in my name, because- ye belong to Christ, verily I say 
unto you, he shall not lose his reward." 

In India the Hindoos go sometimes a great way to 
fetch water, and then boil it that it may not be hurtful 
to travellers who are hot ; and after this, stand from 
morning till night in some great road ^^here there is 
neither pit nor rivulet, and offer it in honor of their 

* The Woman of Samaria ; by an Italian artist. 



HINDOO CUSTOM OF OFFERING WATER. 



41 



gods to be drunk by the passengers. This necessary 
work of charity in these hot countries seems to have 
been practised among the more pious and humane Jews ; 
and our Lord assures them, that if they do this in his 
name, they shall not lose their reward. — Dr, A. Clarke, 




WATER-CARmERS. 



As the water of the wells of Cairo in Egypt is slightly 
brackish, numerous " sackckas" (carriers or sellers 
of water) obtain their livelihood by supplying its inhab- 
itants with water from the Nile. It is conveyed in skins 
by camels and asses, and sometimes, when the distance 
is small, by the " sackcka" himself. The water-skins of 
the camel are a pair of wide bags of ox-hide ; the ass 
bears a goat-skin ; so also does the carrier, if he have no 
ass. The general cry of the water-carrier is, " Oh may 
God compensate me /" Whenever this cry is heard, it 

4* 



42 WATER-CARRIERS. 

is known that a sackcka is passing. There are also 
other water-carriers who supply passengers in the streets 
with water. The goat-skin of a sackcka of this sort has 
a long brass spout, and he pours the water into a brass 
cup for any one who would drink. There is a more 
numerous class, who follow the same occupation, bearing 
upon their backs a vessel of porous gray earth which 
cools the water. Many of these, and some of the sack- 
ckas who carry the goat-skin, are found at the scenes of 
religious festivals, and are often paid by visiters to the 
tomb of a saint, on such occasions, to distribute the 
water which they carry to passengers — a cupM to who- 
ever desires. This work of charity is performed for 
the sake of the saint. The carriers thus employed are 
generally allowed to fill their vessels at a public fountain, 
as they exact nothing from the passengers whom they 
supply. When employed to distribute water to a pas- 
senger in the streets, they generally chant a short cry, 
inviting the thirsty to partake of the charity offered 
them in the name of God, and praying that paradise and 
pardon may be the lot of him who affords the charitable 
gift. — See Modern Egyptians hy Mr. Lane, vol. ii., pp. 
. 15-18. 

MANNER OF WASHING. 

John xiii. 10. 
" He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, 
but is clean every whit." 

He that is washed all over already (that is, by baptism) 
needs no m.ore washing, save only for his feet, which by 
daily treading, that is, conversing on this earth, become 
soiled, and. need continual cleansing. The washing all 
over was the ceremony of initiation in use among the 
Jews, and was never repeated. — See Dr. Hammond on 
the place. 

During my residence at Burmah, I was often reminded, 
while sitting in their houses in the dusk of the evening, 



MANNER OF WASHING. 



43 




of our Savior's remark in John xiii. 10. The men hav- 
ing finished their labor, bathe and clean themselves at 
the river or tank ; but walking up with wet feet defiles 
them again, so that they cannot with propriety come and 
take their place on the mat or bed. Taking up some 
water, therefore, in a cocoa-nut dipper, out of a large 
jar which stands at the door of every house, they easily 
rinse their feet, as they stand on the step, and are " clean 
every whit." — Retu H. Malcom^s Travels. 



MODE OF WASHING THE HANDS. 



2 Kings iii. 11. 
" Here is Elisha, the son of Shaphat, which poured 
water on the hands of Elijah." 

The Oriental mode of washing is universally different 
to that piactiBed in the West. Nowhere is water pre- 



44 



WASHING THE HANDS. 



viously poured into a basin ; but the servant pours water 
from a pitcher upon the hands of his master. The cus- 
torn of washing hands before dinner prevails also to this 
day The servant goes round to all the guests, with a 
pitcher, and a vessel to receive the water falling from 
the hands, and performs the office here attributed to Eli- 
sha. The same service is repeated after the repast is 
ended. — Hartley's Researches, 

WASHING THE FEET. 

Luke vii. 44. 
" And Jesus said unto Simon, I entered into thine 
house, thou gavest me no water for my feet." 

1 Timothy v. 10. 
" If she have lodged strangers ; if she have washed 
the saints' feet." (See also Genesis xviii. 4.) 

In the East, where only sandals are worn on the feet 
and where the heat and dust render walking painful, to 
wash the feet on entering any dwelling, is the greatest 




WASHING THE FEET. ^ , 45 

luxury ; and consequently, water is one of tlie firsc 
things presented to a guest. The following passage is 
from the journal of Mr. Jovvett : — 

" October 1st. — Went with Mr. Lewis to Dein el 
Kamr, which may be called the capital of Mount Leba- 
non. The journey took us nine very hot and tedious 
hours. We arrived at sunset. We had a letter to a 
very respectable man in the town, and had an enthu- 
siastic welcome from his family. Before supper, the 
master of the house directed the servant to bring in a 
large brass pan, full of warm water, in which, for the 
first, and indeed the only time that I ever experienced 
such attention, he illustrated the ancient custom of wash- 
ing the feet of strangers, and no compliment could have 
been more seasonable." — Jowett^s Researches. 

FLOWERS USED AS FUEL IN THE EAST. 

Matthew vi. 28-30. 

*'' Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow ; 
they toil not neither do they spin .... 

" Wherefore, if God so clottie the grass of the field, 
which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, 
shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith ?" 

The Eurmans use very little fuel, and this is of a 
light kind, often the stalks of flowers ; reminding me of 
the remark of our Savior, in Matt. vi. 30. — Rev. H. Mai- 
COTTLS Travels in Southeastern Asia. 

YOUNG MEN AND CHILDREN TAKEN TO CARRY 
WOOD, 

Lamentations v. 13. 
"They took the young men to grind, and the children 
fell under the wood.''^ 

Mr. Jowett, in his journal, observes, " My servant 
directed my attention to a common circumstance, which 



46* , CHILDREN TAKEN TO CARRY WOOD. 

aptly enough illustrates a verse of Scripture. It was a 
family returning from their work in the field, bringing 
home wood for fuel. Several of them were young girls ; 
the youngest a child not above four years of age, which 
the others were continually scolding for not keeping up 
with them, although it was manifestly struggling under 
a very disproportionate share of the family burthen. 
This might explain the latter clause of the 13th verse of 
Lamentations v. : ' The children fell under the wood !' " 
— Jowetfs Researches. 

ARAB UTENSILS. 

Mr. Madden thus describes the furniture of an Arab 
camp. It consists of few and simple articles, of the 
same kind as have always been used by the dwellers in 
tents : — 

" A couple of copper boilers, two small grinding- 
stones, a leather bag to churn milk in, some water-skins, 
a wooden bowl, a goblet or two of tin or horn, a mat, 
and sometimes a coffee-pot, are all the earthly posses- 
sions of a Bedouin — beside his cattle and his firearms." 
— MadderCs Travels^ vol. ii., p. 192. 

EASTERN MILLS. 

Matthew xxiv. 41. 
" Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one 
shall be taken, and the other left." 

" These words convey scarcely any meaning to Euro- 
pean readers. But in India where we see constantly 
two female millers, sitting cross-legged on the ground, 
turning by one handle the upper of two small stones, we 
are at once struck with the force of the illustration used 
to explain the uncertainty which should prevail at the 
destruction of the city. It is difficult, on looking at two 
persons so engaged, to conceive a situation in which it 



EASTERJM MILLS, 



47 



would be less easy to remove the one without interfering 
with the other ; and this point was admirably enforced 
by reference to a custom with which every listener in 
those countries must have been quite familiar. A whole 
quarto of commentaries on the above 'erse could not 
have impressed my mind with a tenth part of the con- 
viction which flashed upon me when I first saw two 
women actually ' grinding at the mill ;' all unconscious 
of the cause of my admiration, and as yet ignorant, alas ! 
of the sublime lessons, to enforce and explain which 
their humble task was referred to." — See Captain Ba- 
sil HalVs Fragiaents of Voyages and Travels, vol. iii., 
pp. 25, 26. 




MILL-STONES. 

Luke xvii. 2. 
" It were better for him that a millstone were hanged 
about his neck, and he cast into the sea." 



48 MILLSTONES. 

To one wlio connects this passage with the idea of 
the large millstones employed in our country, there 
must appear something unnatural in the allusion. To 
attach such a millstone to the neck would be to termi- 
nate life by another mode of death than by casting into 
the sea. There is here an evident allusion to the mill- 
stones employed in the East, which are called hand- 
mills. These consist of an upper and nether millstone, 
both flat and round, playing into each other, and not 
more than a foot in diameter. The upper stone is turned 
round by two persons, one sitting on one side, one on 
the other — " two women grinding at the mill." The 
corn thus ground between the stones escapes in the form 
of flour, through a hole in the lower stone. In order to 
sink a person in the sea, nothing could be more suitable 
than to attach a millstone of this kind to his neck. — • 
See Hartley's Researches . 

JeHEMIAH XXV. 10, 11. 

" I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the 
voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the 
voice of the bride, the sound of millstones, and the light 
of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desola- 
tion." (See Rev. xviii. 23.) 

The Eastern people grind their corn at break of day, 
and those that grind, sing, so that the cheerful noise of 
the women singing is heard throughout the land. In 
the East, when no millstones, and the voices of those 
that grind, are heard, it must be a dreary solitude indeed. 
This employment is esteemed the lowest in the house, 
and is always assigned to the female slaves. (See Exodus 
xi. 5.) The Hindoo women, those who are widows, 
perform the task, divested of every ornament, with their 
heads shaved, and degraded to almost a state of servi- 
tude. " Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin 
daughter of Babylon ! Sit on the ground, for thou shalt 
no more be called tender and delicate. Take the mill- 
stones, and grind meair — Isaiah xlvii. 1, 2. 



MILLSTONES. 49 

These millstones being so necessary to prepare the 
daily food of every family, the Israelites were forbidden 
to take the upper or nether millstone to pledge — for " he 
taketh a man's life to pledge." (See Deut. xxiv. 6.) — Sir 
John Chardiri's MSS. See Harmer^s Observations^ vol. 
i., pp. 495-499. 

KNEADING-TROUGHS. 

Exodus xii. 34. 
" And the people took their dough before it '^^as 
leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in their 
clothes upon their shoulders." 

The Arabs still use small v^ooden bov^ds for kneading 
the unleavened cakes vi^hich they prepare for strangers, 
in the very desert through v^hich Israel journeyed ; and 
nothing could be more convenient for them than such 
vessels. Among their other Idtchen-furniture, they have 
also a round leather coverlid, which they lay on the 
ground, and which serves them to eat from. It has rings 
round it, by which it is drawn together with a chain, that 
has a hook to it to hang it up by, either to the side of 
the camel, or in the house. This draws it together, and 
sometimes they carry in it their meal made into dough, 
and in this manner they bring it full of bread, and, when 
the repast is over, carry it away at once with all that is 
left. — Dr, Shaw's and Dr. Pococke^s Travels. See Har- 
mer, vol. iv., pp. 367-369. 

LAMPS. 

Job xxi. 17. (xviii. 5, 6.) 
" How oft is the candle of the wicked put out, and 
how oft cometh their destruction upon them." 

The having a great number of lights is esteemed a 
sign of prosperity and joy in the East, 

In Egypt they burn lamps in all the inhabited apart- 
ments of a house, all the night long ; and the poorest 

5 



50 



LAMPS. 



people would rather retrench part of their food than 
neglect it. Thus, when God promised to give David a 
lamp always in Jerusalem, it means that his house should 
never become desolate, but that some of his posterity 




should always be kings in Zion ; for destruction, and the 
putting out of their lamps, or other lights, were terms 
which meant one and the same thing. (See Jer. xxv. 10^ 
11.) " The light of the righteous rejoiceth, but the lamp 
of the wicked shall be put out." (Pro v. xiii. 9.) — Har' 
Trier's Observations, vol. i., pp. 386-389. 



WATERPOTS OF CANA. 



John ii. 6. 
" And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after 
the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two 
or three firkins apiece." 



WATERPOTS OF CANA. 



51 



^' We proceeded to Cana," writes Mr. Carne, "^ by a 
narrow and rocky path over the mountains. This village 
contains two or three hundred inhabitants, and is pleas- 
antly situated on a small eminence in a valley. The 
ruins of the house are still shown where the miracle of 
turning water into wine was performed. The same 
idnd of stone waterpots are certainly in use in the village. 
We saw several of the women bearing them on their 
heads as they returned from the well." — Came' s Eastern 
Letters, p. 253. 




•'While I was sitting by the well of Cana," writes 
Mr. Wilson, " a striking fact occurred. Six females, 
having their faces veiled, came down to the well, each 
carrying on her head a pot for the purpose of being 
filled w4th water, which evinced how much^ the customs 
of old are observed here at this day. These vessels are 
formed of clay, hardened by the heat of the sun, and are 
of a globular shape, ^nd large at the mouth ; not unlike 



52 WATERPOTS OF CANA. 

the bottles used in our country for holding vitriol, but 
not so large. Many of them have handles attached to the 
sides ; and it was a wonderful coincidence with Scripture, 
that the vessels appeared to contain much about the same 
quantity as those which the Evangelist informs us were 
employed at the celebration of the marriage which was 
honored by the Savior's presence, viz., three firidns, or 
about twelve o^allons each." — Rae Wilsori's Travels 



LEATHERN BOTTLES. 

Joshua ix. 4. 
" Wine-bottles, old, and rent, and bound up." 

The bottles in w^hich the Arabs keep liquors are made 
of goat-skins, in which water, milk, &c., keep fresher 
than in other vessels. When the goat is killed, they cut 
off its feet and head, and draw it in this manner out of 
the skin. They afterward sew up the places where the 
legs were cut off, and the tail ; and when it is filled, they 
tie it about the neck. These nations, and the country 
people of Persia, never go a journey without a small 
leather bottle of water hanging by their side like a scrip. 
The large bottles are made of the skins of goats, the 
smaller ones of those of kids. (See Gen. xxi. 14.) 

The tents of the Arabs are extremely smoky, since 
they make fires in them ; so that a traveller, who was 
obliged to pass a night in a hut of reeds in the middle 
of which was a fire, to boil a kettle of meat that hung 
over it, and to bake some bread among the ashes, speaks 
of the smoke as intolerable, there being no way for it to 
escape but by the door of the hut. How black would a 
goat-skin bottle become in such a tent as this ! beside 
being also shrivelled and dried up. The Psalmist, there- 
fore, when wasted with sorrow, exclaims, "T am become 
like a bottle in the smoke !" Probably, too, he meant 
thus to signify his meanness and degradation ; for, after 
Uving with those who used vessels of gold and silver, in 



LEATHERN BOTTLES. 



53 



Saul's palace, he was obliged to live as the wild Arabs, 
and to drink like them out of a smoked leather bottle. 
These bottles, when rent^ were mended by putting in a 
new piece, or by gathering up the piece, or by inserting 
a flat bit of wood. — Harmer's Observations, vol. i., pp. 
282-287. 




HORNS. 

1 Kings i. 39. 
"And Zadoc the priest took. a horn of oil out of 
the tabernacle and anointed Solomon." (Sef9 1 Samuel 
xvi. 13.) 

The Eastern people frequently used horns for keeping 
liquors in, and also for drinking out of; and the same 
custom stili prevails in other countries where the arts 
are little known. At first, the hollow horns of animals 
were thus used ; but, afterward, vessels shaped like horns 



54 ' HORNS. 

were made of different metals, and much ornamented 
with precious stones. Horns were employed for sacred 
purposes : that with which Solomon was anointed was 
kept in the sanctuary. There is now, in the cathedral 
of York, a horn presented to it by one of Dur early 
princes : it has a chain, which is fastened to it in two 
places, by which it might be hung up : and if the horns 
in the East were thus furnished, perhaps Isaiah alludes 
to them among other things, when he speaks of drinking- 
vessels being hung up. (Isai. xxii. 24.) — See Kirmer*s 
Observations^ vol. ii., pp. 134, 135. 

DIVANS. 

Esther vii. 8. 
" Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was." 

Amos iii. 12. 
" Thus saith the Lord, As the shepherd taketh out of 
the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so 
shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in 
Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a 
couch." 

A DIVAN is a part of a room raised above the floor, 
spread well with a carpet in winter, and in the summer 
with mats : along the sides are thick mattresses, covered 
with scarlet cloth, and large bolsters are set against the 
walls to lean on. Upon these divans, which are large, 
and with which all their rooms are furnished, they sit, 
eat, and sleep. (See 1 Samuel xxviii. 23 ; Amos vi. 4 ; 
Esther i. 6, vii. 8.) The corner of these is the most 
honorable place, in which all great persons sit. These 
divans are the same with, what are translated beds in 
several passages of Scripture. In the corner of one of 
them Queen Esther was seated ; and when Haman rose 
to go up to her to beg for his life, he could not reach 
her to kiss the hem of her robe, or perform any other 
act of submission, without going upon the divan, which 



DIVANS. 55 

accordingly he did, and which a traveller mentions hav- 
ing seen persons do. 

The prophet Amos, in the verse quoted above, seems 
to allude to the circumstance of the corner being the 
honorable place ; and the couch may mean the mattress 
placed upon it, covered, perhaps, vi^ith damask, from 
Damascus. 

The words of Amos may be understood as meaning, 
that as a shepherd saves a small portion of a sheep, or a 
goat, out of the jaws of a lion ; so, thougn the rest of the 
country shall be miserably destroyed, tliey shall escape 
that sit (or dwell) in Samaria, the royal city, in the 
corner of the divan, on the damask mattress. 

The stately bed on which Aholibah is represented as 
sitting (Ezek. xxiii. 41), seems to mean the floor of an 
idol temple : for on the floors of such places (Amos 
ii. 8), they used to lie down on clothes or carpets, and 
the going up to them by steps, made them very like the 
Eastern divans. — See Harmer'^s Observations, vol. ii., 
pp. 356-360. 

EASTERN BEDS. 

Mark ii. 11. 
" Arise ! and take up thy bed, and go thy way into 
thine house." 

On the morning after my arrival at Bombay, I got up 
with the first blush of the dawn, and hastily drawing on 
my clothes, proceeded alone greedily in search of adven- 
tures. I had not gone far before 1 saw a native sleeping 
on a mat spread in the little verandah extending along 
the front of his house, which was made of basket work 
plastered over with mud. He was wrapped up in a long 
web of white linen, or white cotton cloth, called, I think, 
his cummerbund, or waist-cloth. As soon as the first 
rays of the sun peeped into his rude sleeping-chamber, 
he " arose, took up his bed, and went into his house." 
I saw immediately an explanation of this expression, 
which, with slight variations, occurs frequently in the 



56 



EASTERN BEDS. 



Bible, in connexion with several of the most striking and 
impressive of Christ's miracles, particularly with that of 
the man sick of the palsy. My friend the Hindoo got 
on his feet, cast the long folds of his wrapper over his 




shoulder, stooped down, and having rolled up his mat, 
which was all the bed he required, he walked into the I 
house with it, and then proceeded to the nearest tank to I 
perform his morning ablutions.— -Cap^, Basil HalVs 
Fragments of Voyages and Travels, vol. iii., pp. 26, 27. 

STONES USED AS SEATS AT FEASTS, Etc. 

Genesis, xxxi. 46. 

'• And Jacob said unto his brethren. Gather stones ; 
and they took stones, and made a heap ; and they did 
eat there upon the heap." 

A TRAVELLER vlsitiug aU Arabian prince relates, the 
following occurrences : " I had gone from my lodgings 



STONES "USED AS SEATS AT FEASTS, ETC. 57 

indisposed, and by standing so long, found myself so 
faint, that 1 was obliged to quit the room. I found 
near the door some of the principal officers of the court, 
who were sitting upon stones, in a scattered way, in the 
shade. Among them was the master of the house, with 
whom I had some acquaintance before. He immediately 
gave me his place, and applied himself to draw together 
stones into a heap, to build himself a new seat." 

Many countries furnish stones so flat as not to be un- 
easy ; and they are used in the East in preference to sit- 
ting on the ground, on account of the burning sands, (t 
(as in Jacob's case probably) on account of the damp- 
ness of the earth. The heap upon which Jacob and his 
brethren ate their feast of reconciliation, was meant 
to be a memorial of their renewed friendship ; and to 
this day, heaps of stones which have been used for me- 
morials, are found in these countries, as well as some 
intended for sea-marks. There is one heap on a rock 
in the Red sea, placed there to warn sailors of the ^ 
danger of the place. — Niehuhr^s Travels ; Harmer^s Ob- 
servations^ vol. ii., pp. 36-38. 

BAKING, 

Genesis xviii. 6. 

" And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, 
and said. Make ready quickly three measures of fine 
meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth." 
Leviticus ii. 4-7. 

" And if thou bring an oblation of a meat-offering 
baken in the oven [or a meat-offering of the oven], it 
shall be an unleavened cake of fine flour mingled with oil, 
or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. And if thy 
oblation be a meat-offering baken in a pan [or plate], it 
shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mingled with oil. . . 
, . . . And if thy oblation be a meat-offering baken in 
the frying pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil." 

The Eastern people still make bread upon the hearth. 
When it is ready for baking, they sweep a corner of the 



58 , BAKING. 

hearth, lay the bread there, cover it with hot ashes and 
embers, and turn it in a quarter of an hour. This mode 
af baking is in use among the Arabs, and is frequently 
mentioned by travellers, the bread or cakes being very 
good. The oven mentioned in Levit. ii. 4, is probably of 
the same kind used by the Arabs for making their best 
sort of bread. " They make," says D'Arvieux, *' a fire 
in a great stone pitcher, and when heated, mix meal and 
water, which they apply with the hollow of their hands 
to the outside, and this soft paste spreading itself upon 
it, is baked in an instant, and the bread comes off as thin 
as our wafer sT Another way of baking, which is a very 
easy one, the bread being as thin as a skin, and soon 
prepared, is on a copper or iron plate, the same as the 
pan or plate mentioned in Levit. ii. 5. And a fourth 
way is laying the bread in a shallow earthen vessel, 
like a frying-pan, and which serves for frying as well as 
baking. This is called a tajen, and is most likely the 
same with the frying-pan spoken of in Levit. ii. 7. 

These modes of baking being common among those 
who live in tents, as the Israelites did, it is very likely 
that the latter prepared the meat-offerings in their own 
.tents, and then brought them to present them to the Lord. 
— ^ee Harmer^s Observations, vol. i., pp. 476-48L 

CHURNING. 

Job xxix. 6. 
" I washed my steps with butter." 

In churning, when large quantities of butter are need- 
ed, it is not unusual for men to tread on skins of cream, 
in order to separate the butter from its more watery part, 
. with expedition. 

We are told that the priests at Magnesia anoint their 
feet with fresh butter ; and that the king of Abyssinia 
anoints his head with it daily. 

The Arabs churn in leathern bottles. Jael opened a 
bottle of milk for Sisera (Jud. iv. 19), having probably 



CHURNING. 59 

just churned, she poured out the contents of her bottle 
into one of the best dishes she had, and gave it to her 
guest. — Dr. Chandler's Travels : Harmer's Observations ; 
Burder^s Oriental Customs, 

STRAINING WINE. 

Matthew xxiii. 24. 
" Which strain at a gnat, and swallow % camel." 
This clause should be translated, " Strain out the gnat 
and swallow greedily the camel." In the East, gnats are 
very apt to fall into wine, if it be not carefully covered ; 
and passing the liquor through a strainer, that no gnat, 
or part of one, might remain, became a proverb, for ex- 
actness about little matters. 

The proverb would be very striking to a Jewish ear, 
as the camel was the largest animal with which they 
were ffimiliar. 

PROVISIONS, AND MANNER OF EATING. 

Matthew xxvi. 23. 
*' He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the 
same shall betray me." 

John xiii. 25-27. 
"He then, lying on Jesus's breast, saith unto him, 
Lord, who is it ? Jesus answered. He it is to whom I 
shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he 
had dipped it, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of 
Simon." 

To witness the daily family habits, in the house in 
which I lived at Deir el Kamr (a town on Mount Leba- 
non), forcibly reminded me of Scripture scenes. The 
absence of the females at our meals has been already 
noticed. There is another custom, by no means agree- 
able to a European, to which, however, that I might 
not seem unfriendly, I would willingly hav^ endeavored 
to submit, but it was impossible to learn it in the short 
space of a twenty days' visit. There are set on the table, 



60 



PROVISIONS, AND 



in the evening, two or three messes of stewed meal^j 
vegetables, and sour milk. To me, the privilege of a 
knife and spoon, and plate, was granted ; but the rest 
all helped themselves immediately from the dish — in 
which it was no uncommon thing to see the hands of 
more than five Arabs at one time. Their bread, which 
is extremely thin, tearing and folding up like a sheet of 



i',,,:i!i,|,nil|l!|llll|||:|piii[^^^^^ 




paper, is used for the purpose of rolling together a large 
mouthful, or sopping up the fluid and vegetables. When 
the master of the house found in the dish any dainty 
morsel, he took it out and applied it to ray mouth. This 
was true Syrian courtesy and hospitality ; and, had I 
been sufficiently well bred, my mouth would have opened 
to receive it. On my pointing to the plate, however, he 
had the goodness to deposite the choice morsel there. 
I would not ha^ noticed so trivial a circumstance, if it 
did not exactly illustrate what the Evangelist records of 
the Last Supper : " He that dippeth his hand with me 



MANNER OF EATING. 61 

in the dish, the same shall betray me." From this it 
may be inferred that Judas sat near to our Lord — per 
haps on one side next to him. St. John, who was leaning 
on Jesus' bosom, describes the fact, with an additional 
circumstance — upon his asking " Lord, who is it ?" 
Jesus answered, " He it is, to whom I shall giv^e a sop, 
when I have dipped it." And when he had dipped the 
sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 
And after the sop, Satan entered into him. — Joivetfs 
Christian Researches. 

The Egyptians are very hospitable in inviting ,*itran- 
gers to eat with them. The tray, if the party be numer* 
ous, is placed in the middle of the room, and they sit 
round it v/ith one knee on the ground, and the other 
(the right) raised ; and, in this manner, as many as 
twelve may sit around a tray three feet wide. Each 
person tucks up the hanging end of his sleeve. Before 
he begins to eat, he says, " In the name of God."* 
This is said in a low, but audible voice, by the master 
of the house first ; and is both a grace and an invi- 
tation to partake of the meal. The master of the 
house first begins to eat, and the guests follow his 
example. Neither knives nor forks are used, but the 
thumb and two fingers of the right hand serve instead ; 
but spoons are served for soup or rice, and both hands 
maybe used in particular cases. When there are several 
dishes upon the tray, each person takes of any that he 
likes, or of every one in succession ; when only one dish 
is placed on the tray at a time, each takes from it a few 
mouthfuls, and it is quickly removed to make place for 
another. (Matt. xxvi. 23.) To pick out a delicate morsel, 
and hand it to a friend, is esteemed polite. This manner 
of eating with the fingers is more delicate than may be 
imagined by those who have not witnessed it. Each 
person breaks off a small piece of bread, dips it in the 
dish, and then conveys it to his mouth, together with a 

* In allusion to a similar custom, St. Paul may have exhorted 
Christians to do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus. 

6 



62 PROVISIONS, AND MANNER OF EATKNG. 

small portion of the meat, or other contents of the dish j 
or he merely sops his morsel of bread in the dish. (See 
Ruih ii. 14 ; John xiii. 26.) The piece of bread is gen- 
erally doubled together, so as to enclose the morsel of 
meat, &c., and only the thumb and the first and second 
fingers are commonly used. — Lane^s Modern Egyptians^ 
vol. i,., pp. 177-179. 

MEN AND WOMEN EAT SEPARATELY IN THE EAST. 

Genesis xviii. 6-10. 
" And Abraham hastened into the tent unt) Sarah, 
and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine 
meal, knead it, and make cakes on the hearth. . . . And 
he to;ik butter and milk, and the calf which he had 
dressed, and set it before them. . . . And they said unto 
him, Where is Sarah thy Wife ? And he said. Behold 
in the tent. And Sarah heard it in the tent-door, which 
w^as behind him." 

Genesis xxvii. 14-18. 
" And he v^ent, and fetched, and brought them" [the 
kids] " to his mother : and his mother made savory 

meat And she gave the savory meat, and the 

bread which she had prepared, into the hands of her son 
Jacob, and he came to his father." 

When we had finished our meals, in the family in 
which I resided at Deir el Kamr, and were risen, the 
mother, daughter, and daughter-in-law, who had been 
waiting at the door, came in, and partook of what 
remained. Thus it is in Syria, and thus it has been, 
probably, ever since Abraham, a Syrian ready to perish, 
traversed these regions, dwelling in tents ; when Sarah, 
having prepared an entertainment for three divine stran- 
gers, did not present it, that being Abraham's office, but 
stood at the tent-door which was behind him. So Re- 
bekah prepared a repast for her husband, and sent it in by 
the hand of id^coh,— J owctt's researches m Syria. ^Sfc. 



63 

INVITATIONS. 

Proverbs ix. 2-5. 
" Wisdom hath killed her beasts ; she hath mingled 
ner wine ; she hath also furnished her table. She hath 
sent forth her maidens : she crieth upon the highest places 
of the city^ Whoso is simple let him tm'n in hither : as 
for him that wanteth understanding, she saith !o him, 
Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I 
have mingled." 

There was an ancient Eastern custom of sending 
invitations to feasts by females, who delivered them 
publicly. This singular custom was witnessed by a 
traveller in Egypt, who gives the following account of 
it. He says, he saw a number of women, who went 
about inviting people to a banquet, in a curious and, 
without doubt, very ancient manner. They were about 
ten or twelve, covered with black veils, as is customary 
in that country. Four eunuchs walked before them ; 
after them, and beside them, were Moors with walking- 
staves. As they went along, they all joined in making 
a noise, the sound of which was so peculiar, that no 
idea could be given of it to those who had never heard 
it. It was shrill, but had a particular quavering, which 
had been learned by long practice. This story illustrates 
the meaning of Solomon, when he says, " She hath sent 
forth her maidens, she crieth upon the highest places of 
the cityT — Hasselquist : Harmer'^s Observations^ vol. ii., 
pp. 15, 16. 

Zechariah iii. 10. 
•' In that day, saith the Lord of Hosts, shall ye call 
every man his neighbor, under the vine and under the 
flg'treey 

The Eastern people frequently form parties of pleas- 
ure, and repose under the trees in warm weather, eating 
and drinking there ; and they also invite passengers to 
partake with them in their repast. Thus, Dr. Chandler, 



64 . INVITATIONS. 

in his Travels, tells us that a Greek at Philadelphia sent 
them a small earthern vessel full of choice wine ; and that 
some families, w^ho were sitting beneath some trees, in- 
vited them to alight, ^dndi partake of their refreshments. 

The taking their repasts thus in public expressed safety 
and pleasure ; and the calling to passengers to partake 
with them, a spirit of friendliness and generosity. A 
state very contrary to that in which Israel had some 
little time before found themselves ; *' Son of man," 
said God to Ezekiel, " I will break the staff of bread in 
Jerusalem ; and they shall eat bread by weight, and with 
care, and they shall drink water by measure, and with 
astonishment. They shall eat their bread with careful- 
ness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her 
land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of 
the violence of all them that dwell therein." (Ezek. iv. 
16, 17 ; xii. 18, 19.) — Chandler's Travels in Asia Minor ; 
Harmer's Observations, vol. ii., pp. 24-26. 

PERSIAN FEASTS. 

Luke xiv. 7-12. 
"And he put forth a parable to those which were 
bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief 
rooms [places at table] ; saying unto them. When thou 
art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the 
highest room, lest a more honorable man than thou be 
bidden of him ; and he that bade him and thee come and 
say to thee, Give this man place ; and thou begin with 
shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art 
bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room ; that when 
he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee. Friend, 
go up higher ; then shalt thou have worship in the pres- 
ence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever 
exalte th himself shall be abased ; and he that humbleth 
himself shall be exalted." 

When Mr. Morier was in Persia, himself and his 
friends were invited to an entertainment bv one of the 



PERSIAN FEAST. 65 

chief men of the state. He writes, " On the day ap- 
pointed, as is usual in Persia, a messenger came to us 
about five o'clock in the evening to bid us to the feast. 
I might make use of scriptural language to commence 
my narration : ' A certain man made a great supper, 
imd bade many : and sent his servant at supper-time to 
say to them that v^ere bidden, Come ; for all things are 
now ready.' (Luke xiv. 16, 17.) The difficulty which 
infidels have made to the passage, of which this is the 
commencement, arises from the apparent harshness of 
asking people to an entertainment, and giving them no 
option, — by punishing them, in fact, for their refusal. 
Whereas all the guests to whom, when the supper was 
ready, the servant was sent, had already accepted the 
invitation, and were, therefore, already pledged to appear 
at the feast, at the hour when they might be summoned. 
They were not taken unprepared, and could not, in con- 
sistency or decency, plead any prior engagement. On 
alighting at the house, we were conducted through mean 
and obscure passages to a small square court, surrounded 
by apartments, which were the habitation of the women, 
who had been dislodged on the occasion ; and as we 
entered into a low room, we there found our host waiting 
for us, with about a dozen more of his friends. The 
ambassador (from England, whom Mr. Morier accom- 
panied) was placed in the corner of honor,"^ near the 
window, and the host next to him, on his left hand. The 
other guests were arranged around the room, according 
to their respective ranks ; among whom was an old 
man, a descendant of one of the ancient royal families 
of Persia, who took his seat next to the host. Ahhough 
needy, and without power, he is always treated with the 
greatest respect. (See 2 Sam. ix. 1-7.) He receives a 
daily allowance from the king, which makes his case 
resemble that of Jehoiachim, ' for his allowance was a 
continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate, 
.... all the days of his life.' (2 Kings xxv. 30.) This 
* See page 52. 
6* 



66 PERSIAN FEAST. 

treatment is in the true spirit of Eastern hospitality 
Giving to this person a high rank in society is illustra- 
tive of the precedence given to Jehoiachim, by setting 
* his throne above the throne of the kings that were with 
him in Babylon' (2 xxv. 28)." 

When a Persian enters an assembly, after having left 
his shoes without, he makes the usual salutation of 
" Peace be unto you," which is addressed to the whole 
assembly, as it were saUiting the house (Matt. x. 12) : 
and then measuring with his eye the degree of rank to 
which he holds himself entitled, he straightway wedges 
himself into the line of guests, without offering any 
apology for the general disturbance which he produces. 
It may be conceived that, among a vain people, the dis- 
putes which arise on matters of precedence are numer- 
ous ; and it w^as easy to observe, by the countenances of 
those present, when any one had taken a higher seat 
than that to which he was entitled. The Persian scribes 
are remarkable for their arrogance in this respect ; and 
they will bring to mind the caution that our Savior gave to 
the Jews against their scribes, whom among other things 
he characterizes as loving " the uppermost rooms at 
feasts." (Mark xii. 39.) The master of the entertainment 
has, how^ever, the privilege of placing any one as high in 
the ranks of the assembly as he may choose, and we saw 
an instance of it on this occasion ; for, when the assem- 
bly was nearly full, the governor of Kashan, a man of 
humble mien though of considerable rank, came in, and 
had seated himself at the lowest place, when the host, 
after having testified his particular attentions to him by 
numerous expressions of welcome, pointed with his hand 
to an upper seat in the assembly, to which he desired 
him to move, which he accordmgly did. What a strong 
analogy is here between the manners of the Jews and 
those of the Persians ! (See Luke xiv.) — Morier's Sec- 
ond Journey through Persia, pp. 142-144 



PERSIAN FEAST . Gt 

Isaiah v. 11. 
" Wo unto them that rise up early in the morning, 
ihat they may follow strong drink ; that continue until 
night, till wine inflame them." 

" On the 15th of April, 1813," says Morier, "return- 
ing from a morning ride, about seven o'clock, I saw, at 
about forty yards from the road-side, a party of well- 
dressed Persians seated on a carpet close to a rising 
ground in the plain, with a small stream of water, neai 
a field of rising corn, flowing before them, and surrounded . 
by their servants and horses. As I passed, they sent a 
lad to me with a message to the following purpose : ' The 
khan sends his compliments, says, be happy and requests 
you will join his party.' At the same time the whole 
company halloed out to me as loud as they could, ' Be 
happy, be happy !' I afterward learned that this party 
was given by a yiizbashee, or a colonel of the king's 
iroops, and that they v^ere in the height of enjoyment 
when I passed, for they were ail apparently much intoxi- 
cated. We one day met a party in one of the king's 
pleasure-houses nearly under similar circumstances ; and 
we found that the Persians, when they commit a debauch, 
arise betimes, and esteem the morning as the best time 
for beginning to drink wine, by which means they carry 
on their excess until night. This contrast with our own 
manners will, perhaps, give fresh force to the passage in 
Isaiah v. 11, ' Wo unto them,' &c." — Morier^s Second 
Journey, p. 189. 

EGYPTIAN FEASTS. 

Luke xiv.,13. 
" When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the 
maimed, the lame, the blind." 

PococKE speaks of the admission of the poor to the 
tables of the rich. Speaking of an Egyptian entertain- 
ment, he says : " The custom was for every one, when 
he had done, to get up, wash his hands, take a draught 



68 , EGYPTIAN FEASTS. 

of water, and so in a continued succession till the poor 
came in, and ate up all : for the Arabs never set any- 
thing by which is brought to table. When they kill a 
sheep they dress it, and call in their neighbors and the 
poor, and finish everything." — Pococke^s Travels; see 
Harmer*s Observations^ vol. ii., p. 416. 

REPASTS ON THE SEASHORE. 

John xxi. 3-13. 
'' They went forth, and entered into a ship. . . Whsi 
' the morning was now come^ Jesus stood on the shore 
. . . (and) saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat ? 
They answered him. No. And he said unto them, Cast 
the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. 
.... As soon as they were come to land, they saw a fi^re 
of coals there, and jislt laid thereon, and bread. Jesus 
saith unto them. Bring of the fish which ye have now 

caught Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. 

.... (He) cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, 
and fish likewise." 

The Greeks and Syrians, and those who dwell in 
Syria, whether Turks, Moors, or Arabs, are ivont, not 
unfrequently, to eat a repast on the seashore ; and when 
the Eastern fishermen are disposed to eat, they do not 
generally (as those of the same class among ourselves 
do) dress their fish on board their vessels, but are wont 
to land, and eat it on shore, and that early, as well as 
late in the day. These circumstances are confirmed by 
the following story of what happened to a traveller, 
named Doubdan, during a short voyage from St. Jean 
d'Acre to Sidon. The' narrative is given by himself; 
and it throws much light upon the history which St. 
John gives us of the interview between our Lord and 
his disciples on the shore of the sea of Galilee. 

The substance of Doubdan's account is this : '' He and 
his companions hired a fishing-boat to take them to Sidon, 
but through the insolence of the seamen, who would 



REPASTS OF THE SEASHORE. 69 

not row, they got no farther than Tyre that night. In 
ihe morning, finding themselves at the mercy of fom' or 
five fishermen, who did nothing biit cast their nets into 
the sea, they employed a poor Jew, who was with them 
in the boat, and who could speak a little of the language 
used by the fishermen, to call upon them to push for- 
ward to Sidon. But they only cast their nets into ihe 
sea, to procure themselves a dinner. Then they landed tc 
dress and eat their fish, after which they slept for more 
than two hours, while Doubdan and his friends were 
broiling with the scorching sun and heated rocks. Be- 
ing put out again to sea, upon a promise of more pay, 
they took up their oars and rowed briskly for four or five 
miles, in order to reach Sidon that same day. They 
then grew tired ; and being inclined to return to their 
fishing, they put Douhdan and his companions on shore^ 
where there was a very large and deep cavern, and began 
to cook some small fish with some rice ; and then, with- 
out speaking one word to Doubdan, carried all on board 
the bark, and went away toward the place whence 
they came, so that they lost sight of them in a few mo- 
ments. This unexpected accident extremely astonished 
them ; and, what was worse, there were many Turks, 
Moors, and Arabs, in this caverns ; of whom some were 
reclining on the sand, enjoying the fresh air ; some were 
dressing provisions among the rocks ; others were 
smoking ; notwithstanding the apparent danger of the 
fall of great pieces of the rocks, which frequently hap- 
pened ; but it is common for them to retire hither, on 
account of a spring of fine water, which glides along 
here, and is extremely cool. — Doubdan's Voyage de la 
Terre Sainte ; Harmer's Observations, vol. ii. pp. 27-35. 



FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 

John vii. 37-39. 
** In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus 
stood and cried, saying. If any man thirst, let him come 



70 FEAST OF TABERNACLES 

unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the 
Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of 
living water." 

Our Lord here alludes to the custom of pouring out 
water in a solemn manner at the Feast of Tabernacles, 
to solicit the blessing of the autumnal rains for the ap- 
proaching seed-time ; they being of so great consequo-nce 
after the drought of an Eastern summer. This custom 
* appears to have been first practised by the Jews after 
their return from captivity in Babylon. It was then 
that the prophet Zechariah said, " It shall come to pass, 
that every one that is left of all the nations which came 
against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year 
to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the 
Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whoso will 

not come up, upon then shall be no rain." (See 

Zechariah xiv. 16, 17.) It is therefore probable that the 
Jews derived this rite from the Persians, and other nations 
among whom they had dwelt in their captivity. The 
ancient Persians kept a feast, the name of which (Abri- 
zan), means the pouring out of locder, which was prepar- 
atory to the descent of the autumnal rains. It is, there- 
fore, very likely that the returning Jews might think of 
adding some memorial of Jehovah's being the Giver of 
rain to their ancient feast, which was to be celebrated 
about the same time with the Persian festival. — See 
Harmer'^s Observations, vol. i., pp. 83-90. 

THE PASSOVER. 

Exodus xii. 18. 
" In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the 
month, at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the 
one-and-tv/entieth day of the month at even." 

Verse 15. 
" Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread ; even the 
first day shall ye put away leaven out of your houses ; 



THE PASSOVER. 71 

for whosoever eaieth leavened bread from the first day 
until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from 
Israel." 

Verse 8. 
" They shall eat the flesh (of the lamb) in that night, 
roast with lire, and unleavened bread, and with bitter 
herbs they shall eat it." 

Verse 11. 
" And thus shall ye eat it ; with your loins girded, 
your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand." 

Verse 22. 
'^' Ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the 
blood that is in the basin." 

Verses 26, 27. 
" And it shall come to pass, when your children shall 
say unto you. What mean ye by this service ? that ye 
shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who 
passed over the houses of the children of Israel in 
Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our 
houses." 

Ve7'se 24. 
" Ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee 
and to thy sons for ever." 

Matthew xxvi. 23. 
" He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the 
same shall betray me." 

Luke xxii. 17, 20. 

" He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take 
this, and divide it among yourselves. 

" Likewise also the cup after supper, saying. This cup 
is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you." 

John vi. 49-51. 
" Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and 
are dead. This is the bread which ct)meth dgwn from 



72 THE PASSOVER. 

heaven, that a man may eat thevcof, aiod not die. 1 am 
the hving bread which came down from heaven. If any 
man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever ; and the 
bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for 
the life of the world." 

The passover is kept, as all readers of Scripture know^ 
on the fourteenth day of the first month. I shall say 
nothing of its original institution, nor of the manner in 
which it is appointed to be kept in the land of Judea, but 
shall simply remind my Christian friends that it consisted 
of two parts, the paschal lamb and the unleavened bread. 
No sacrifices being allowed out of the land, the disper- 
sion of the Jews has necessarily caused an alteration in 
the mode of this part of the commemoration ; but as there 
is no occasion to make any change in any other part, we 
may suppose that, in other respects, it is celebrated now 
in the same way it ha« always been ; there is, at least, 
strong reason to believe, from the narrative in the Gos- 
pels, that in the days when our Lord Jesus Christ partook 
of it; the mode was the same as that at present in use. 

In order to make some of the customs I shall mention 
more easily understood, I must inform my readers that 
the word homitz has a wider signification than is gener- 
ally attached to that of leaven, by which it is rendered 
in the English Bible. Homitz signifies the fermentation 
of corn in any shape, and applies to beer, and to all 
spirituous liquors distilled from corn. "While, therefore, 
there are four days in passover week on which business 
may be done, being, as it were, only half-holy days, a 
distiller or brewer must suspend his business during the 
whole time. And I must do my brethren the justice to 
say, that they do not attempt to evade the strictness of 
the command, to put away all leaven, by any ingenious 
shift, but fulfil it to the very letter. I know an instance 
of a person in trade who had several casks of spirits sent 
to him, which arrived during the time of the passover ; 
had they cjpme a few days sooner, they would have been 



THE PASSOVER. 73 

lodged in some place apart from his house until the feast 
was over ; but, during its continuation, he did not think 
it right to meddle with them ; and, after hesitating a little 
time what to do, he at length poured the whole out into 
the street. About the time of harvest, the pious Jews, 
who keep a watchful eye over their less scrupulous 
brethren, go often into the fields to watch the first ripe 
wheat ; and no expense is spared to get in a sufficient 
quantity as quickly as possible, wherewith to bake the 
unleavened bread the ensuing spring. This is carefully 
kept in a dry place, lest any moisture should fall upon it, 
and cause fermentation. About three months before 
Easter, the Jews in different towns have a mill, for which 
the Gentile proprietors generally make them pay a large 
sum of money. They take a whole week to clean it, so 
that the least mark of the old flour is not to be seen. 
When the time of the feast draws near, a baker's oven 
is also hired ; which must be heated several times before 
they consider that the " old leaven is purged out." The 
poor Jews and Jewesses are then employed in kneading 
and rolling out the cakes as quickly as they can ; so that 
the whole operation must not exceed ten minutes. If 
there are not poor Jews enough in the place to do the 
whole work, the richer ones share in this pious labor. 
The night before the passover, the master of the family 
searches the house with candles, removing every crumb 
of bread that may be lying about ; blessing the Lord who 
hath commanded his people to put away leaven. The 
day before the feast begins, all the first-born males 
amofig the Jews fast, in commemoration of God's 
goodness in sparing them when he smote all the first- 
born of the Egyptians ; and, before sunset, they assemble 
in the synagogue for prayer. The prayers at this season 
are peculiary interesting ; for, while praise is given to 
God for the Egyptian deliverance, prayer is offered for 
the still greater deliverance that is to take place at the 
time of the Messiah : " Lord deliver us," say they, " from 
the hands of our enemies, and gather us from the four 

7 



74 THE PASSOVER. 

corners of the earth, through the Messiah, the Son of 
David, our Righteousness." The solemn evening having 
come, the master of the house, on their return from the 
synagogue, sits down at the head of the table, the whole 
family, including the Jewish servants, being assembled 
round it. On the table are placed three plates ; one 
comains three passover-cakes, another horse-radish and 
bitter herbs, and a third a bone of lamb, or a small piece 
of roast meat, and a roasted egg ; the last two are ir 
commemoration of the paschal lamb, and the offering thai 
accompanied it. The three cakes are put in a napkin ; 
one at the top, one in the middle, and one at the bottom. 
Beside these three plates, there are other two dishes ; 
one containing vinegar or salt and water, the other a 
mixture of various ingredients worked up to the con- 
sistence of lime, in remembrance of the lime in which 
our fathers worked in Egypt. Each individual at table 
is provided with a glass, or small cup, for wine, which is 
filled four times in the course of the service. Among 
the older and more devout Jews, it is customary for the 
master of the family to sit exactly in the manner pre- 
rscribed in Exodus, with his loins girt, his staff in his 
'hand, and shoes on his feet, just as if he had gone out of 
Egypt yesterday. 

The service commences by the repetition of several 
■blessings ; and then they drink the first cup of wine, 
: called the wine of the sanctification. The master of the 
house then dips some of the bitter herbs in vinegar, and 
gives a small portion to each one at table. He then 
'breaks the middle cake, leaves one half in the dish, and 
Mdes^the other until after supper. The Jews do not 
profess to know with certainty what this hidden part 
signifies ; but the common belief is, that it is in commem- 
oration of the hidden manna ; and in this opinion I am 
disposed to join, for reasons that I shall hereafter state. 
They then lay hold of the dish containing the passover 
cakes, and the bitter herbs, and say : " Lo ! this is as 
the bread of affliction, which our ancestors ate in the 



THE PASSOVER. 75 

land of Egypt ; let all those who are hungry come and 
eat thereof, and all who are needy come and celebrate 
our passover. At this time we are here ; next year we 
hope to be in the land of Israel. Now we are servants ; 
next year we hope to be free children." 

The youngest in the company then ask : " Where- 
fore is this night distinguished from all other nights ?" 
To which the whole of the others reply : " Because we 
Avere slaves unto Pharoah in Egypt, and the Lord our 
God brought us out thence, with a mighty hand and an 
outstretched arm." 

They then proceed to rehearse God's mighty acts ot 
deliverance toward our fathers ; the head of the family 
reading or repeating, the rest making responses. When 
this is finished, the unleavened bread is shown to all, as 
a mark of their freedom, and a portion of it is received 
and eaten by each. They again eat bitter herbs, dipped 
in the mixture that represents the lime. This concludes 
the first and greater part of the service. Supper is then 
put on table, and is a meal of social rejoicing. The 
union of domestic enjoyment with religious services, was, 
in the Jewish religion, the appointment of God himself; 
and it is probably only those who have experienced it, 
who can fully understand the wisdom of the Divine 
legislator, in thus connecting the highest act of which 
man is capable, that of worshipping God, with the purest 
and holiest of natural affections. 

The supper being ended, two large cups are filled with 
wine. One of these is taken by the master of the house, 
and a blessing pronounced. This blessing refers very 
distinctly to the time of Messiah's reign : " Oh most 
merciful ! make us to inherit the day when all shall be 
sabbath ; and we shall rest in life for ever : Oh most 
merciful ! cause us to be inheritors of the day when all 
shall be good : Oh most merciful ! make us worthy to 
see the days of the Messiah, and life in the world to 
come : May He who exalteth the salvation of his king, 
^nd showeth mercy to his anointed, to David and his 



76 THE PASSOVER. 

seed for evermore, v^ho causes peace to exist in the 
heavens, cause his peace to be upon us, and upon all 
Israel. — Amen." This is in strict harmony with the 
prayer of our Lord : " Thy kingdom come ! thy will 
be done on earth as it is in heaven." After this bles- 
sing, the head of the family gives the cup to all those 
sitting around. He then brings forth the hidden cake, 
and distributes a piece to each. The second cup of 
wine, called Elijah's cup, is then placed before him, the 
door is opened, and a solemn pause of expectation 
ensues. It is at this moment that the Jews expect the 
coming of Elijah will take place, to announce the glad 
tidings that the Messiah is at hand. Well do I remem- 
ber the interest with which, when I was a boy, I looked 
toward the door, hoping that Elijah might really enter , 
for notwithstanding the disappointment year after year, 
his arrival is still confidently expected. Of this cup ot 
Elijah no one partakes, but it is looked upon as sanctified. 
The ceremony concludes by singing the hymn of, " Lord, 
build thy temple speedily ;" at the end of which, the 
head of the family says : " This year we are here ; may 
we be next year in Jerusalem." 

I would make a few remarks on this feast, as viewed 
in connexion with the first institution of our Lord's 
Supper. The passover has been celebrated by the Jews, 
without intermission, since the Babylonish captivity; and 
as we are not a people given to adopt modern innova- 
tions of any sort, it is probable the mode has never been 
changed, in any other way than by the addition, or sub- 
stitution, of different prayers, suited to the state of dis- 
persion, which are to be met with in all the various 
services, as well as allusions to the sayings of certain 
eminent men, the date of which is of course not difficult 
to ascertain. It is, therefore, most probable, that our 
Lord and his disciples, in all the ceremonial part, com- 
memorated it in the same manner as we now do. The 
custom of dipping the bitter herbs, seems to accord with 
Christ's words : " He that dippeth with me in the dish,'' 



THE PASSOVER. 77 

*' He to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it." 
In reading the narratives of the four Evangelists, we must 
remember, they were written by Jews, and that those for 
whom they were first written, were either Jews, or the 
disciples of Jews ; none of them, therefore, enter into 
any detailed account of the services of that evening, but 
simply allude to them as maters w^ell known. We are 
not, therefore, to be surprised that the two cups are no^ 
mentioned in all the narratives ; but to regard the narra 
tive of them by St. lAike as sufficient evidence that the} 
were used. In chap. xxii. 17, it is said : '- He took the 
cup, and gave thanks, and said. Take this, and divide it 
among yourselves ;" and in verse 20, " Likewise also the. 
cup after supper, saying. This cup is the new testament 
in my blood." The breaking of the bread being men- 
tioned in connexion with this cup, gives every reason to 
suppose that it was the hidden cake which our Lord used 
for this purpose, and which I have already said is gener- 
ally considered commemorative of the hidden manna. It 
is very probable that this was introduced during the time 
of the second Temple ; the pot with the manna not being 
there. Our Lord said to them at a former period : 
" Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are 
dead ; .... he that eateth of me shall never die. The 
bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for 
the life of the world." 

It seems very appropriate, to take that which was used 
as an emblem of the hidden manna, to represent that 
broken body, given for the life and nourishment of the 
world, as the manna was given to the children of Israel. 
— See A Brief Sketch of the Present State and Future 
Expectations of the Jews, by Ridley H. HerschelL pp. 
54-65. 

JEWISH WEDDING. 

Luke i. 26, 27. 
" And in the sixth mpnth the angel Gabriel was sent 
from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a 



78 JEWISH WEDDING. 

virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the 
house of David ; and the virgin's name was Mary." 

Matthew xlv. 6. 
" And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold ! 
rhe bridegroom cometh ; go ye out to meet him." 

Psalm xlv. 9, 13, 14, 15. 
" Upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of 
Ophir. The king's daughter is all glorious within ; her 
clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto 
the king in raiment of needle-work : the virgins her 
companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. 
^With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought : they 
shall enter into the king's palace." 

Revelation xix. 7-9. 
" Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to 
Him : for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his 
wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted 
that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. 
.... And he saith unto me. Write, Blessed are they 
which are called unto the marriage-supper of the Lamb." 

Matthew ix. 15. 
'' And Jesus said unto them, can the children of the 
bride-chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with 
them 1 But the days will come, when the bridegroom 
shall be taken from them and then they shall fast." 

The ceremonies attending a Jewish marriage illus- 
trate many important parts of Scripture — especially those 
referring to the union between Christ and the church. 
In ancient times the ceremony of betrothing was the 
solemn engagement by which two persons were united 
for life ; and this, in the Talmud, is directed to take 
place at least twelve months before the parties live 
together. Thus, Mary, the mother of our Lord, was " a 
virgin, espoused to a man whose name was Joseph," yet 
would have been treated as an acjulteress had she formed 
a connexion with any other man. In procjess of time, 



JEWISH WEDDING. 79 

this law became less strictly observed ; and, although the 
betrothing still takes place some time before the mar- 
riage (in many cases two or three years previous, if the 
parties are young), yet it is not now done by giving a 
ring, but by a written agreement. This contract, if not 
dissolved by mutual consent, is so far binding, as to in 
volve the party breaking it in a pecuniary penalty. 

The night before the celebration of the marriage is 
called the " watch-night," and is kept as such by the 
family of the bride, and the maidens who attend her on 
the occasion. If the bridegroom's residence be at a dis- 
tance froQi that of the bride, he usually arrives some 
time in the course of this night, or very early in the 
morning. The bridemaids watch anxiously for his ar- 
rival, aad as soon as they are apprized of his approach 
by tJie joyful shout set up by some of the members of 
the family, who have been on the look-out to catch the 
first glimpse of him, " The bridegroom cometh !" they 
go forth to meet him. The precision with which this 
answers to the parable in the twenty-fifth chapter of 
Matthew's Gospel, scarcely requires pointing out. 

The bride and bridegroom do not meet at his arrival ; 
each being engaged apart until the afternoon of the mar- 
riage-day. The morning is observed as a fast by both, 
and each should spend a great part of it in devotion — he 
with his male friends ; she with her parents and bride- 
maids. A due time before the hour fixed for the cere- 
mony, the bride begins " to make herself ready" — 
decking herself in the most splendid attire that her 
means enable her to procure. Glittering jewels, the 
" golden embroidery," and " raiment of needle-work," 
mentioned in the forty-fifth Psalm, are by no means con- 
fined to those who are really opulent ; but the utmost 
efforts are made by the friends of every bride to render 
her wedding garments as splendid as possible. She and 
her bridemaids are usually dressed in white. The hair 
of the bride is cut off" with much ceremony, and a veil 
placed upon ter head ; while her mother and other ma 



80 . JEWISH WEDDING. 

Irons give her exhortations suitable to the first assump« 
tion of this mark of being in subjection. 

The huppo is a canopy supported on four posts, large 
enough to admit under it the bride and bridegroom, with 
their special attendants, and the nearest relatives of the 
parties. This is usually erected in a garden, where there 
is one ; but, in towns, is sometimes to be seen in the pub- 
lic street or square. When all things are ready, the bride- 
groom, accompanied by his friends, first repairs to the 
huppo, where he is joined by the bride, closely veiled, 
and led by her bridemaids and female relatives. The 
rabbi reads the contract of marriage, and then gives 
them an exhortation ; the company sing a hymn, and the 
ceremony concludes by the bridegroom placing a plain 
gold ring on the fore-finger of the bride's left hand, say- 
ing, " Behold, thou art set apart to me with this ring, ac- 
cording to the laws of Moses and Israel." 

The whole party then return to the house, the newly- 
married pair walking first, arm-in-arm. As soon as 
they arrive, they sit down to breakfast together, both 
having fasted until that time. A short time after this, 
the chief feast, or what may be called the marriage- 
supper, takes place, which is a very joyful scene. The 
bridegroom sits at the head of the table, with his bride 
at his right hand. In former times it was usual to con- 
tinue the festivities for seven days ; but this custom is 
now very rare, and confined to a few of the wealthy 
families. 

I may here mention a custom which throws light on 
our Lord's words in Matthew ix. 15. Beside the ap- 
pointed fasts of the Jewish chiuch, voluntary fasts are 
kept by those who are, or wish to be thought, particu- 
larly pious. Many, like the Pharisee, fast twice in the 
week ; namely, on the second and fifth days — our Mon- 
day and Thursday. It would be considered very WTong, 
in those who are in the habit of observing such fasts, to 
omit them for frivolous reasons ; but if they are invited 
to a marriage, they are specially exempted from the 



JEWISH WEDDING. 81 

observance of them. Hence our Lord refers to the im- 
propriety of fasting in the presence of the bridegroom, 
as to a custom well known among the Jews. 

When a Jew reads, that " the marriage of the lamb 
is come, and his wife hath made herself ready," he is 
forcibly reminded of the song, with which he has been 
accustomed from his youth to commence every sabbath : 
" Go forth, my beloved, to meet the bride." By the bride 
is meant the congregation or assembly of Israel, which 
conveys precisely a similar idea to a Jew that the words 
" the church " do to a Christian. It is on the sabbath 
of blessedness, in the days of the Messiah, that this 
meeting between him and his bride is to take place ; and 
the weekly sabbath, on which this song is sung, he re- 
gards as the type of that " rest that remaineth for the 
people of God." — HerschelVs Sketch of the Jews, pp. 
92-97. 

Canticles ii. 9. 

" My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart : behold, 
he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the 
window, showing himself through the lattice." 

The Rev. Pliny Fisk, the missionary to Palestine, in 
the description of a Jewish wedding which he had wit- 
nessed, writes, '' At the opposite end of the court was a 
kind of gallery where the bride was making prepara- 
tions for the ceremony, and in front of which hung 
stripes of different colored paper, red, pale red, and 
yellow, some of them covered with gold leaf. Now and 
then the bride showed herself through the lattice, or 
wooden i>et-work, which stood in front of the gallery. 
It reminded us of Solomon's Song : ' My beloved look- 
eth forth at the windows, showing himself through the 
lattice: " 

MARRIAGE CEREMONIES. 

Judges xiv. 1-13. 
" And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a 
woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines, 



b*^ MARRIAGE CEREMONIES. 

And he came up and told his father and his mother, and 
said, . . . Get her for me to wife ... So his father went 
down unto the woman : and Samson made there a feast, 
for so used the young men to do. And it came to pass, 
w^hen they saw him, that they brought thirty compan- 
ions to be with him. And Samson said unto them, I 
will now put forth a riddle unto you ; if you can certainly 
declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find 
it out, then I will give you thirty sheets, and thirvy 
change of garments." 

Mr. Jowett gives the following account of a mar- 
riage among the Christians in Deir el Kamr, a town on 
Mount Lebanon. It took place in the evening : " Three 
priests assisted in performing it. A multitude of men 
and boys set off with lights in their hands, an hour after 
sunset, from the house of the bridegroom (leaving the 
bridegroom in his father's house), to that of the bride. 
After waiting nearly half an hour, the bride came out, 
attended by her female friends, and the procession began 
— the men going first, and after them the women, wdth 
the Dride in their front. On their coming near the 
chmxh they halted, while the bridegroom proceeded first 
into the church, with his father and companions, in 
number certainly more than thirty, to be ready to receive 
his bride. After this, the bride and her party entered by 
the door and apartment belonging to the women. Both 
then stood together in the middle of the church before a 
lighted desk, the bride being covered. An incessant 
noise and tumult, which no authority of the priests 
could appease, prevailed throughout the ceremony, which 
lasted nearly half an hour. The whole being ended, the 
friend of the bridegroom, standing behind him, lifted him 
up in his hands like a child, shouting at the same time 
for joy. This, however, as well as the tumult, was a 
mark that the parties were of the lower rank." 

Seven days afterward, Mr. Jowett writes : " I have 
in view two of the houses where, last Sunday, marriages 



MARRIAGE CEREMONIES. 83 

took place. The courtyards and the tops of the houses, 
are again crowded with guests. The continuance of the 
feasting ilhistrates Judges xiv. 12." — -See Jowett's Re- 
searches in Syria, <^c., pp. 87, 88, 95. 

Matthew xxv. 10. 
" And the door was shut." 

" At a njarriao'e. the procession of which I saw some 
years ago, the bridegroom came from a distance, and the 
bride lived at Serampore,to which place the bridegroom 
was to come by water. After waiting two or three hours, 
at length, near midnight, it was announced as if in the 
very words of Scripture, ' Behold I the bridegroom com- 
eth ; go ye out to meet him !' All the persons employed, 
now lighted their lamps, and ran with them in their 
hands to fill up their stations in the procession : some 
of them had lost their lights, and were unprepared, but 
it was then too late to seek them ; and the cavalcade 
moved forward to the house of the bride, at which place 
the company entered a large and splendidly illuminated 
area before the house, covered with an awning, where a 
great multitude of friends, dressed in their best apparel, 
were seated upon mats. The bridegroom was carried in 
the arms of a friend, and placed on a superb seat in the 
midst nf the company, where he sat a short time, and 
then went into the house, the door of which was imme- 
diately shut, and guarded by keepers. I and others ex- 
postulated with the doorkeepers, hut in vain.^^ — Ward's 
Vieio of the Hindoos. 

MANNER OF ANNOUNCING THE BIRTH OF A 
SON IN PERSIA. 

* Jeremiah xx. 15. 

" Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father 
saying, A man-child is born unto thee ; making him very 
glad." 

The Persians look upon a son as a blessing, and its 
birth is announced with great ceremony to the father 



84 BIRTH OF A SON IN PERSIA. 

Some confidential servant is usually the first to ge the 
information, when he runs in great haste to his master, 
and says, " Good news !" by which he secures to him- 
self a gift, which generally follows the announcement. 

Among the common people, the man who brings the 
tidings frequently seizes on the cap or shawl, or any 
yuch article, belonging to the father, as a security for 
the present to which he holds himself entitled. 

When the ambassador of Persia was there, in 1811, a 
dervish, who was considered a cunning man, assured 
him he would have a son, and even before the birth of 
the child (who proved to be a daughter), demanded a pres- 
ent, as the price of his divination. When it is recol- 
lected that there are no rejoicings on the birth of a 
daughter, but that, on the contrary, every one is back- 
ward to inform the father of it, as they were forward on 
the birth of the son, the whole force of the passage in 
Jeremiah will be felt ; and it will appear they were in- 
formed of the event by men, as they are at the present 
day. — Morier's Second Journey through Persia^ ^c, pp. 
103, 104. 



CEREMONIES AFTER THE BIRTH OF A CHILD 
AMONG THE PERSIANS. WEANING— FEAST— AND 
"BRINGERSUP OF CHILDREN.'^ 

1 Samuel i. 11. 
" And she [Hannah], vowed avow, and said, O, Lord 
of Hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of 
thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine 
handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man 
child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of 
his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head." 

The Persians adopt certain ceremonies about shaving 
the head. It frequently happens, after the birth of a son, 
that if the parent be in distress, or the child be sick, 
or that there be any other cause of grief, the mother 
makes a vow that no razor shall come upon the child's 



PERSIAN CEREMONIES A.FTER A BIRTH. 85 

head for a certain portion of time, and sometimes for ail 
his life. If the child recover, and the cause of grief be 
removed, and if the vow be but for a time, so that the 
mother's vow be fulfilled, then she shaves his head at 
the end of the time prescribed, makes a small entertain- 
ment, collects money and other things from her relations 
and friends, which are sent as offerings to a mosque, 
and are there consecrated. We may compare this with 
the law of the Nazarites. (Numbers vi.) The person 
who v/as separated to God's service let his hair grow, 
and abstained from wine and other usual indulgences. 
This was done sometimes during life, and sometimes 
during certain periods only ; after the latter offerings 
were made to the Lord„ 

Hannah's vow was one of gratitude, an expression of 
thankfulness ; but more usually in Scripture the unshaven 
head is an expression of grief, and a vow to such an 
effect an act of penitential humiliation. 

Genesis xxi. 80 
'' And the child grew, and was weaned : and Abraham 
made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned." 

Among the Persians boys are weaned at two years 
and two months, girls at two years. On the day that 
the child is to be weaned they carry it to the mosque, 
(in the same manner, perhaps, that Hannah took Samuel 
to the house of the Lord, when she had weaned him 
1 Sam. i. 29), and, after having performed certain acts 
of devotion, they return home, and collecting their 
friends and relations, they give a feast, of which they 
make the child also partake. The coincidence with 
Scripture is here remarkable. See Gen. xxi. 8. 

2 Kings x. 5. 
■' Aiid the bringers-up of the children sent to Jehu. . ." 

"^'he rich hire a wet-nurse for their children. If a 
r>ov, the father appoints a steady man from the age of 

i " 8 



86 



PERSIAN CEREMONIES AFTER A EIRTH. 



two years to be his *' laleh," who I conjecture must 
stand in the same capacity as the " bringers-up of chil- 
dren" mentioned in 2 Kings x. 5 ; but if it be a daugh- 
ter, she has a woman called " gees sefeed," or white 
head attached to her for the sam.e purpose as the 
" laleh." — Morier^s Second Journey through Persia, 6fc., 
pp. 107, 109, 110. 

MANNER OF CARRYING CHILDREN. 

IsAiAH xlix. 22. 
" Thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders." 
The young children of both sexes are usually carried 
by their mothers and nurses, not in the arms, but on the 
shoulder, seated astride, and sometimes, for a short dis- 
tance, on the hip. — Lane's Modern Egyptians, vol. i., 
p. 58. 




87 



CHAPTER IV. 



Method of honoring Distinguished Persons — Sending Deputations 
— Riding — On the Royal Horse — Sending Portions from tho Ta- 
bles of Great Men — Fixing a Spear wherever a Person of Con- 
sequence Reposes — Marks of Respect — Kissing the Feet, Knees, 
Robe, Beard, Hand, Ground — Concealing the Feet — Holding 
the Feet — Putting off the Shoes — Dismounting — Tokens of 
Friendship — White Stone — Presents — Mark of Agreement — 
Customary Salutations. 



DEPUTATIONS OF HONORABLE MEN, A MARK OF 
GREAT ESTEEM IN PERSIA. 

Numbers xxii. 15. 
" And Balak sent yet again princes, more and more 
honorable than they." 

When the English ambassador to Persia drew near 
Ispahan, he was met by the confidential officer of the 
governor of Ispahan, by a learned man of the city, and 
by several other men of respectability. These deputa- 
tions are called openers of the way, and are one of the 
principal modes among the Persians of doing honor to 
their guests. The more distinguished the persons sent, 
and the greater the distance to which they go, so much 
more considerable is the honor. On the day of the 
entry of the embassy into Ispahan, it was first met by 
the youngest son of the second vizier of Persia, a boy 
of about thirteen years of age, who received the am- 
bassador with all the ease of an old courtier, making 
the usual compliments of, " You are welcome ; you have 
done us honor ; are your spirits good ? how is your 
health ? you have no ailing ?" Men of consequence in 
the city at difierent intervals presented themselves ; and 
at length two of the brothers of the vizier paid their 



88 DEPUTATIONS OF HONORABLE MEN. 

respects to the ambassador. At lengtli the governor in 
person came out a mile from the city, to meet him. 
This succession of personages, whose rank increased as 
we approached the city, may bring to mind the " princes, 
more and more honorable," which Balak sent to Bala- 
am. — Morier^s Second Journey through Persia, (^c, pp. 
127-129. 

RIDING A TOKEN OF HIGH RANK. 

ECCLESIASTES X. 7. 

" I have seen servants upon horses, and princes 
walking as servants upon the earth." 

To walk about on foot, is an act of very great humil- 
ity in Persian estimation. Walking is a part of tl^e ser- 
vice exacted from servants, multitudes of whom are 
always attached to a prince and a man of consequence 
in the East. Many are kept exclusively for that pur- 
pose : when a great man goes abroad he is mounted on 
a horse, while his servants surround him, one bearing 
his pipe, another his shoes, another his cloak, a fourth 
his saddle-cloth, and so on, the number increasing with 
the dignity of the master. — Morier^s Second Journey 
through Persia, Sfc., p. 166. 



RIDING ON THE ROYAL HORSE. 

Esther vi. 7-9. 
'•^ For the man whom the king delighteth to honor, let 
the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to 
wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the 
crown-royal which is set upon his head ; and let this 
apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the 
king's most noble princes, that they may array the man 
withal whom the king delighteth to honor, and bring him 
on horseback through the street of the city, and j roclaim 
before hira. Thus shall it be done to the man whom the 
king delighteth to honor." 



RIDING ON. THE ROYAL HORSE. 



89 



The following account of the manner in which a 
person is treated in Africa upon his turning Mahome- 
tan, singularly agrees with the honors here mentioned : 
" Such a person is to get on horseback^ on a stately 




steed, with a rich saddle and fine trappings — he is 
also richly habited, and has a turban on his head — bui 
nothing of this is to be called his own. The horse, 
with him on his back, is led all round the city, which 
he is several hours in doing. He is attended with drums, 
and other music, and twenty or thirty stewards, who are 
under the sergeants. These march in order on each 
side of the horse, with naked swords in their hands. 
The crier goes before, with a loud voice giving thanks 
for the proselyte that is made." — PMs Account of the 
Religion and Manners of the Mahometans. See Har- 
mer^s Observations^ vol ii., pp., 305-397. 

8* 



90 



PORTIONS SENT FROM THE TABLES OF 
GREAT MEN. 

Genesis xliii. 34. 
" And he took and sent messes unto them from before 
him : but Benjamin's mess was live times so much as 
any of theirs." 

It is still regarded as a distinction of value to have 
any portion from the table of a monarch, or of a great 
man. When a celebrated traveller dined in the pres- 
ence of an Eastern sovereign, he was thought to be 
greatly honored, because the king tore off a handful of 
meat from the joint and sent it to him. A Dutch am- 
bassador, in similar circumstances, mentions it as a mark 
of great honor that some bones of mutton, with half the 
meat gnawed off them were sent him from the table of 
the emperor. Sir J. Chardin observes that the" great 
men are always served by themselves, in the feasts that 
are made for them ; and with great profusion, their part 
of each kind of provision being always double, treble, 
or a larger proportion of each kmd of meat. It is also 
a mark of distinction for a guest to have many difierent 
dishes set before him. Joseph, therefore, probably sent 
his favorite brother many different kinds of meat, there 
being enough of each dish to serve him for a meal, had 
he chosen to partake solely of it. — Harmer's Observa- 
tions, vol. ii., pp. 102, 99, note. 



FIXING A SPEAR BESIDE A GREAT MAN. 

1 Samuel xxii. 6. 
. . . . " Now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree m Ra- 
mah [margin, under a grove in. a high place'], having his 
spear in his hand, and all his servants were standmg 
about him.''^ ' 



FIXING A SPEAR BESIDE A GREAT MAN. 



91 



When Dr. Pococke was travelling in company with 
an Eastern governor of distinction, they passed one 
night in a grove of palm-trees. 

On another occasion he speaks of visiting the lieu- 
tenant of another governor, and finding him sitting on 
a carpet and cushions, which were laid on a/iez^A^, with 
the standard beside him. The words of the sacred 




historian, " his spear in his h§nd^-^ may be translated 
" at his hand," i. e., beside him ; and it is certain, that 
when a long pike is carried before a company of Arabs, 
it is a mark that a prince is among them ; and when he 
alights, and the horses are fastened, the pike is fixed. — 
Dr. Pococke's Description of the East. See PIar- 
mer's Observations, vol. ii., pp. 433-435. 



92 FIXING A SPEAR BESIDE A GREAT MAN. 

1 Samuel xxvi. 7. 
. . " And, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the 
trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster , 
but Abner and the people lay round about him." 

Mr. Morier saw a Persian governor reposing him- 
self after the fatigue of a long journey, being extended 
under a shed fast asleep on the ground, with a spear 
stuck at his bolster-head, which now, as in the days of 
Saul, marks the spot where a man of consequence re- 
poses. — Morier' s Second Journey through Persia, (SfC, 
p. 115. 



MARKS OF RESPECT, KISSING THE FEET, KNEES, 
ROBE, BEARD, Etc. 

Matthew xviii. 26-29. 
'' The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped 

him And his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, 

and besought him." — See Luke viii. 41 ; Mark vii. 25. 

Luke v. 8. 
....'' He fell down at Jesus's knee." 

Luke viii. 44. 
. . " (She) touched the border of his garment." — 
Zech. viii. 23. 

Luke vii. 45. 
*' Thou gavest me no kiss." 

2 Samuel xx. 9. 
" And, Joab, took Amasa by the beard with the right 
hand, to kiss him." 

Genesis xxxiii. 4. 
.,, '' And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and 

I fell on his neck, and kissed him : and they wept." 



MARKS OF RESPECT. 



93 



Genesis xlv. 14. 
" And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and 
wept ; and Benjamin wept upon his neck." — See Acts 
XX. 37 ; Luke xv. 20. 

Inferiors among the Arabs, out of deference and 
respect, kiss the feet, the knees, or the garments of 
their superiors — and the women that wait on the Arab 
princesses sometimes kiss the border of their robe. An 




Eastern traveller who attended an English consul on a 
visit to the chief of Tripoli, says that the two interpreters 
of the consul kissed the chief's garment, and put it to 
their foreheads. To kiss the hand of a superior is like- 
wise a mark of reverence — as is also kissing the beard, 
as Joab did. 



94 MARKS OF RESPECT. 

More intimate relations, and those of equal age and 
dignity, mutually kiss the hand, head, or shoulder. " It 
was interesting," observes a traveller, speaking of the 
friendly tribes of iVrabs, " to see their meeting in the 
desert : from their wandering habit of life, and their 
frequent and distant journeys, they seldom meet ; but 
when they do, the pressing of the hand to the heart, 
the kiss on the cheek, the passionate exclamations and 
gestures of joy, prove the sincerity and fervor of their 
feelings." — See Harmer'^s Observations, vol. ii., pp- 
325-327. 345-347 ; and Garners Eastern Letters, p 
206. 

KISSING THE HAND. 

Job xxxi. 26, 27. 
" If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon 
walking in brightness, and my heart hath been secretly 
enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand." 

Sometimes in the East, when an inferior comes to 
pay his respects to a superior, he takes the superior's 
hand, and kisses it, putting it afterward to his forehead. 
In their religious worship, the Mahometans begin 
with bringing their two thumbs together, and kissing 
them three times, and at every kiss touching their fore- 
heads with their thumbs. When they cannot kiss the 
hand of a superior, they kiss their own, and put it to 
their foieheads. 

They venerate an unseen being Avhom they cannot 
touch, in much the same manner ; and the ancient 
idolators also thus worshipped beings they could not 
touch. It is to this that Job refers, •' If my mouth 
hath kissed my hand," in worship of the host of heaven. 
■ — Pitfs Account of the Mahometans. See Harmer ^ 
Observations, vol. ii., pp. 339, 340. 

This mode of paying adoration, by kissing the hand is 
mentioned and described by Pliny. — Nat. Hist., xxviii. 2. 



KISSING THE GROUND. 



95 



KISSING THE GROUND. 

Psalm Ixxii. 9. 
*' They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before 
him ; and his enemies shall lick the dust." 

Isaiah xlix. 23. 
" Kings shall be thy nursing-fathers, and their queens 
thy nursing-mothers : they shall bow down to thee with 
their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy 
feet." 




It is usud among the Persians to pay homage to 
-heir sovereigr by kissing the earth, or touching it with 
their foreheads ; and when one prince has been con- 
quered by another, the same custom is observed, as a 



96 KISSING THE GROUND. 

token of submission and vassalage. An Eastern prince 
who had been conquered, one day threw himself on the 
ground, and kissed the prints that his victorious enemy's 
horse had made there, repeating some verses in Persia-n 
to this effect, '' While I shall have the happiness to 
kiss the dust of your feet, I shall think that fortune fa- 
vors me," &c. 

Thus we read in the Psalms that even the wild Arabs, 
whom the greatest earthly conquerors could never tame, 
shall bow before the Lord of glory ; yea, they shall 
become his vassals, and his enemies shall lick the dust, 
— See Harmer^s Observations, vol. ii., pp. 335-338 

CONCEALING THE FEET. 

Isaiah vi. 2. 
" Above it stood the seraphims : each one had six 
wings ; with twain he covered his face, and with twain 
he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.'' 

" When a person sits down in the East," writes Sir 
J. Chardin, "it is a great mark of respect to conceal 
his feet, and to look down on the ground. When the 
sovereign shows himself in China and Japan, every one 
casts his looks on the earth, and no one is permitted to 
look on the king." 

HOLDING THE FEET. 

Matthew xxviii. 9. 
" They came and held him by the feet, and worship- 
ped him." 

" Exactly this kind of reverence may be seen daily 
among the Hindoos. A Hindoo disciple, meeting his 
religious guide in the public street, prostrates himself 
before him, and rubs the dust of his feet on his forehead 
and breast." — Wardh- View of the Hindoos. 



97 



PUTTING OFF THE SHOES. 

Psalm Ix. 8. 
•» Over Edom will I cast out my shoe." 

Exodus iii. 5. 
'' Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place 
whereon thou standest is holy ground." 




The casting off the shoe in ancient times, in the Enst 
was a sign of dominion. To put off their shoas, was a 
mark of reverence. Maundrell was obliged, in some 
cases where he visited private individuals, to comply 
with this custom. Another traveller says, that, at the 
doors of an Indian pagoda, as many slippers and sandals 
are seen as there are hats hanging up in our churches, 

9 



98 PUTTING OFF THE SHOES. 

The Egyptians, also, do not permit any one to entei 
their temples with shoes on, because shoes being made 
of the skin of dead animals are regarded as polluting 
them ; and the Turks always leave their shoes at the 
entrance of their mosques. , 

DISMOUNTING. 

Genesis xxiv. 64. 
" And when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel." 

1 Samuel xxv. 23. 
'' And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and light- 
ed off the ass." (See 2 Kings v. 21 ; Judges i. 14.) 

The alighting of those that ride, is considered in 
the East as an expression of deep respect. Niebuhr 
observes, that meeting an Arab lady riding on a camel, 
accompanied by one domestic, she, in order to testify 
her respect for the sheiks who vi^ere with him, rode out 
of the path, then alighted, and passed by them on foot. 
Dr. Chandler writes, " We met a Turk, a person of 
distinction, as appeared by his turban. Our janizary 
and Armenians respectfully alighted, and made him a 
profound obeisance, the former kissing the rim of his 
garment." — Harmer^s Observations, vol. ii., pp, 324, 
351,352. 

TOKEN OF FRIENDSHIP. 

Revelation ii. 17. 
*' To him that overcometh will I give .... a white 
stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no 
man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." 

Revelation xix. 12. 
" On his head were many crowns ; and he had a name 
wxitten, that no man knew, but he himself." 

The following is from the Rev. H. BlunCs Lectures 

See pages 94, 95. 



TOKEN OF FRIENDSHIP. 99 

on the Seven Churches : — " In primitive times, when 
travelling v^as rendered difficult by the want of places 
of public entertainment, hospitality was exercised by 
private individuals to a very great extent. Persons who 
had partaken of this hospitality, and those who practised 
it, frequently contracted habits of regard and friendship 
for each other ; and it became a well-established custom, 
both among the Greeks and Romans, to provide their 
guests with some particular mark, which was handed 
down from father to son, and insured hospitality and 
kind treatment wherever it was presented. This mark 
was usually a small stone or pebble, cut in half, and 
upon the halves of which, the host and the guest mu- 
tually inscribed their names, and then interchanged them 
with each other. The production of this stone was 
quite sufficient to insure friendship for themselves or 
their descendants, whenever they travelled again in the 
same direction ; while it is evident, that these stones 
required to be privately kept, and the name written- 
upon them carefully concealed, lest others should obtain 
the privileges, instead of him for whom they were 
intended. How natural, then, is the allusion to this 
custom in the words, ' I will give to him to eat of the 
hidden manna ;' and having done so, having recognised 
him as my guest, my friend, I will give him a white 
stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no 
man knoweth saving he that receiveth it ; a pledge of 
ny friendship, sacred and inviolable, known only to 
himself." 

More probable however, is the explanation of the 
celebrated Dr. Hammond : " In popular judicatures, or 
elections in Greece, it was the custom to give the votes 
by stones. These were either white, or black ; the white 
was a token of absolution or approbation, — the black of 
condemnation or rejection. In the public games, also, 
these stones were used ; the victor's reward being as- 
signed to him by a white stone, whereon was inscribed 
his name, and the value of the prize. 



100 TOKEN OF FRIENDSHIP. 

So to him who shall be found m Christ at his comings 
washed in his blood, and clothed in his righteousness, 
having run the heavenly race, and fought the good fight 
of faith, and overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and 
by the word of his testimony, will Christ give a " white 
stone" (in token of justification, acceptance, and * ap- 
proval) ; the name written thereon, and the excellence of 
the reward, being known only to him who receives it. 

" In chapter xix., the victory of Christ himself over the 
kingdoms of the earth is associated with the same idea 
of the white stone ; for he is first said to have '' many 
crowns" on his head (each a token of his victory over 
some one kingdom), and then to have a name written 
that no man knew but he himself; that is, a white stone, 
the token of his victory, and whereby he is to receive 
his reward, viz., to be " King of Kings, and Lord of 
Lords," (v. 16.) Paraphrase and Annotations on the Ncv> 
Testament, pp. 876, 877. 

PRESENTS OF GARMENTS, Etc., A MARK OF 
GREAT FAVOR. 

Samuel xviii. 4. 
" And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was 
upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even 
to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle." 

Esther vi. 7-9. 
'^ For the man whom the king delighteth to honor, 
let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to 
wear, .... that they may array the man withal whom 
the king delighteth to honor." 

When a treaty between Russia and Persia was con- 
cluded, some years since, in the commencement, accord- 
mg to the usual form., the ranks of the two principal 
persons who were deputed to arrange it had to be spe- 
cified. The Russian general was found to have more 
titles than the Persian plenipotentiary, who was there 



i 



PRESENTS OF GARMENTS. 101 

for'e at a Joss how to make himself appear of equal 
importance with the other negotiator ; but at length, 
recollecting that, previous to his departure for the place 
of conference, his sovereign had honored him by a 
present of one of his own swords, and of a dagger set 
with precious stones, to wear which is a peculiar dis- 
tinction in Persia, and besides, had clothed him with one 
of his own shawl-robes, a distinction of still greater 
value, he therefore designated himself as " Endowed 
with the special gifts of the monarch, lord of the dagger 
set in jewels, of the sword adorned with gems, and of 
the shawl-coat already wornr 

It will be remembered that the bestowing of dresses 
as a mark of honor among Eastern nations, is one of 
the most ancient customs recorded both in sacred and 
profane history. We may learn how great was the 
distinction of giving a coat already worn^ by what is said 
of Jonathan's love for David, as well as from the history 
of Mordecai. — Morier^s Second Journey through Persia, 
Sfc, pp. 299, 300. See Chap. V. 

MARK OF AGREEMENT. 

Proverbs xi. 21. 
" Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be 
unpunished." 

The expression, " Though hand join in hand," is in the 
original, hand to hand, which also agrees with the custom 
actually prevailing in Syria. When persons in the East 
greet each other, they touch their right hands respect- 
ively, and then raise them up to their lips and forehead. 
This is the universal Eastern courtesy, and is used also 
in token of friendship and agreement. The sense there- 
fore is, " Though hand meet hand," intimating, that heart 
assents to heart in the perpetration of wickedness, yet 
shall not the wicked go unpunished. — Jovjett's Researches 
in Syria, <Sfc., p. 281. 

9* 



102 SALUTATIONS. 



SALUTATIONS. 

Psalm cxxix. 8. 

'^ Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of 
the Lord be upon you ; we bless you in the name of the 
Lord." 

" We wish you good luck in the name of the Lord."* 

Nothing could better express the contemptuous 
neglect which David there describes as falling upon the 
wicked, than these words. This is, indeed, the land of 
good wishes and overflowing compliments. Every 
passer-by has his " God bless you !" Com^ersation is 
sometimes among strangers made up of a very large 
proportion of these phrases ; for example, — '' Good 
morning." Answer, " May your day be enriched !" 
'' By seeing you." " You have enlightened the house* 
by your presence." " Are you happy ?" " Happy, 
and you also ?" " Happy." " You are comfortable, 1 
am comfortable ;" meaning, " I am comfortable, if you 
are." These sentences are often repeated ; and, after 
any pause, it is usual to turn to your neighbor, and 
resume these courtesies many times. In the southern 
half of Palestine, I subsequently found the ordinary 
salutations between persons on the road, to be literally, 
'' Good luck ;" to which the person saluted replies, 
" May God give you good luck !" — Jowetfs Researches 
in Syria, d^c, pp. 89, 90. 

John xx. 19. 
" Then .... came Jesus and stood in the niidst^ 
and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." 

John xiv. 27. 
^'Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you • 
not as the world giveth, give I unto you." 

* Prayer-book version/ 



SALUTATIONS. 103 

2 Kings iv. 29. 
" Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take 
my staff in thine hand, and go thy way : if thou meet 
any man, salute him not ; and if any salute thee, answer 
him not again : and lay my staff upon the face of the 
child." 

Luke x. 4. 
" Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes : and salute 
no man by the way." 

The common Eastern salutation is, " Peace be with 
you ;" the speaker laying his right hand upon his heart. 
The answer is, " With you be peace." Aged people 
are inclined to add, *' And the mercy and blessing of 
God." A traveller in the desert* writes : " Through 
all the route we had met few passengers. One or two 
caravans, or a lonely wanderer with his camel, had 
passed at times, and given us the usual salute of ^ Peace 
be unto you !' Our blessed Lord, therefore, gave the 
usual salutation to his disciples ; and since the saluta- 
tions of the world in general are too apt to be mere forms, 
he adds, that he gave them a real, and not a fleeting 
blessing, ^ Not as the world giveth give I unto you.' 

The Mahometans of Egypt and Syria never salute 
a Christian with " Peace be with you ;" they content 
themselves with saying, " Good-day to you," or " Friend, 
how do you do ?" and of this the Christians are perhaps 
themselves the cause ; for a traveller relates, that the 
Greek merchants did not seem at all pleased with his 
saluting Mahometans in the Mahometan manner. In 
the like spirit the Roman catholics of some provinces 
of Germany never address the protestants that live 
among them with the form common among themselves, 
namely, " Jesus Christ be praised ;" and when such 
a thing happens by mistake, the protestants never re- 
turn it after the manner in use among Roman catho- 
lics, " For ever and ever, Amen !" After this, the words 

* Mr. Carne. See his " Letters," p. 180. 



104 



SALUTATIONS. 



of our Lord in Matthew v. 47, need no further com- 
mentary. The Jews would not address the wonted 
greeting to either heathens or publicans ; the publicans 
would use it to their countrymen who were publicans, 
but not to heathens. 

The Eastern salutations often took up much time. 
In Egypt the common. people reciprocally clap each 
other's hands when they meet, twenty or thirty times 
together, saying, "How do you do ?'' " I wish you good 
health ;" and then ask many friendly questions about 
each other's family, &c., mentioning the names of the 
children. Elisha, therefore, who was anxious for the 
immediate recovery of the Shunamite's son, bade Ge- 
hazi not to tarry to salute those he met. When our Sav- 
ior gave his disciples the same comnland, he may have 
meant that they should not delay the work on which 
they were sent. — Niehuhr ; and Maillefs Description de 
r Egypt ; see Harmer's Observations, yo\. ii., pp. 319- 
323. 




105 



CHAPTER V. 



Presents — to Friends and Relations — Great Men — Public 
Dancers. 



PRESENTS. 

1 Samuel ix. 7. 
" But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man ? 
for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a 
present to bring to the man of God : what have we ?" 

Presenting gifts is one of the most general cus- 
toms in the East ; they are pledges of mutual friend- 
ship, so that the son of Sirach says, ^' Be ashamed of 
scorning to give and take ;" and so essential are they to 
civil intercourse, hovvever small in value, that a travel- 
ler mentions that when he consented to convey a poor 
sick man to the place of his destination, the poor crea- 
ture presented him with a dirty cloth, containing about 
ten dates ! 

All great men expect a present from an inferior who 
visits them, as a token of respect ; whether it be a 
flower, or whether it be an orange, something you must 
bring. Princes often present sums of money in return 
for gifts, to ambassadors, or strangers of distinction, as 
Joseph did to Benjamin. (Gen. xlv. 22.) Silver and 
gold, raiment of various kinds, are common QiTerings to 
those eminent for learning and piety. Such gifts 
Naaman had prepared for Elisha. (2 Kings v. 5.) An 
Eastern poet of the ninth century, had so many presents 
given him, that he was possessed of a hundred com- 
plete suits of clothes, two hundred shirts, and five hun- 
dred turbans ! As the Eastern fashions never alter 



106 PRESENTS. 

It is customary to make immense collections of furniture 
and clothes, which are heaped up in wardrobes, as mud 
is heaped up in the streets (Job xxvii. 16), for mortar in 
building. Vessels for eating and drinking are still pre- 
sented along with provisions, as in David's time (2 Sam. 
xvii. 28, 29), and princes still expect to be furnished 
with provisions in time of need, as Barzillai and others 
supplied David at Mahanaim ; and as such assistance 
is a token of respect, and acknowledgment of the prince's 
authority, so to refuse it would be as great an insult now, 
as it was in Saul's and Gideon's days. (1 vSam. x. 27 ; 
Judges viii. 5, 8, 16, 17.) 

The visits of friends and relations are often from 
three to eight days in duration, and the whole family 
often go together ; they therefore send before them pres- 
ents of food suited to their rank and number. The wife 
of Jeroboam acted something in this way when she went 
to visit Abijah. (See 1 Kings xiv. 3.) 

Horses are frequently offered as presents to great 
men : and probably asses (which are still much used in 
Persia) were formerly ; thus Samuel (xii. 3), and Moses 
(Numbers xvi. 15), ask of the people of Israel, whose 
ass they had taken, that is, for riding on. Presents are 
sometimes very expensive in the East, and are accom- 
panied with great pomp and parade ; those gifts which 
are carried to the house of a bridegroom, and which 
might be borne by one horse, are laid upon four or five, 
and jewels which one plate would hold, are placed in 
fifteen. Alluding to this, we read in Judges iii. 18, of 
making an end of offering the present, and of a number 
of people that bare it, and thus the presents Benhadad 
sent to Elisha were borne by forty camels. Presents 
sent to powerful princes are often regarded as a kind of 
tribute, and acknowledgment of subjection, as in Psalm 
Ixxii. 10. The rich clothes of some of the Turkish 
officers of Tripoli, and those of their wives, are com- 
monly given them by those that have causes depending 
upon them, to induce them to be favorable to their 



PRESENTS. 107 

cause, and thus Amos complains (ii. 6), that the Jewish 
judges were so corrupt that a little silver, and even so 
mean a piece of finery as shoes (the wooden sandals, 
perhaps, worn by Eastern ladies, and which are a very 
trifling article), would make them pervert the judgment 
of the poor and righteous ; and in chapter viii. 6, he 
represents the rich as defrauding the poor, for they knew 
that if those poor complained, they could carry their 
point against them for silver, and even for a pair of 
shoes. — See Bruce^s and MaundrelVs Travels, and Har- 
mer's Observations, vol. ii. pp. 514, 519, 290, 297, 298- 
300, 302-304, 295, 296, 314, 304-309. 

The kings of Persia have great wardrobes, where 
there are always many hundreds of habits ready, de- 
signed for presents, and sorted. They pay great atten- 
tion to the quality or merit of those to whom these vest- 
ments or habits are given ; those that are given to the 
great men have as much difference as there is between 
the degrees of honor they possess in the state. — Sir /. 
Char din ; Harmer's Observations, vol. ii., p. 382. 

The presents sent by Cambyses, king of Persia, to 
the Ethiopian sovereign, consisted of a purple vest, a 
gold chain for the neck, bracelets, an alabaster-box of 
perfumes (see St. Mark xiv. 3), and a cask of wine. — 
Herodotus, bk. iii., 20. 



PRESENTS GIVEN TO PUBLIC DANCERS. 

MiVTTHEw xiv. 7. 
" He promised with an oath to give her whatsoever 
she would ask." 

In the East it is customary for public dancers at 
festivals in great houses, to solicit from the company 
they have been entertaining, such rewards as the spec- 
tators may choose to bestow. These usually are small 



108 



PRES.ENTS GIVEN TO PUBLIC DA.NCERS. 



pieces of money which the donor sticks on the face of 
the performer. A favorite dancer will have her face 
covered with such presents. The silver charger is char- 
acteristic in this history of the beheading of John. By 
an ancient custom in Persia, the queen had a right, on 
the king's birth-day, to demand of him any favor that 
she thought proper. 




109 




CHAPTER VL 



Dress — Flowing Garments — Hyke — Tunic — Party-Colored Gar- 
ments — Arab Cloak — Wedding Garment — Face- Veil — Orna- 
ments — Painting the eyes — Shaving the Beard — Horns — Splen^ 
dor of th'3 Eastern Dresses. 



DRESS— FLOWING GARMENTS. 

Isaiah Hi. 2, 10. 

" Shake thyself from the dust ; arise^ and sit down, 
O Jerusalem." 

" The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes 
of all the nations ; and all the ends of the earth shall 
see the salvation of our God." 



The use of the Oriental dress (writes Mr. Jowett), 
which I now wear, brings to the mind various Scripture 
illustrations, of which I will only mention two. The 
10 



110 DRESS FLOWING GARMENTS. 

figure, " The Lord hath made bare his holy arm," ia 
most lively ; for the loose sleeve of the Arab shirt, as 
well as that of the outer garment, leaves the arm so 
completely free, that in an instant the left hand passing 
up the right arm makes it bare ; and this is done when 
a person, a soldier for example, is about to strike with 
the sword, in order to give his right arm full play. 
The image represents Jehovah as suddenly prepared to 
inflict some tremendous yet righteous judgment, so ef- 
fectual, that all the ends of the world shall see the sal- 
Yation of God. 

The other point illustrated occurs in the second verse 
of the same chapter (Isaiah lii.), where the sense of the 
last expression is, to an Oriental, extremely natural. 
" Shake thyself from the dust ; arise, and sit down, O 
Jerusalem !" It is no uncommon thing to see an indi- 
vidual, or a group of persons, even when very well 
dressed, sitting with their feet drawn under them, upon 
the bare earth, passing whole hours in idle conversation ; 
people in Europe would require a chair, but the natives 
here prefer the ground. A person of rank in the East 
often sits down upon the ground, with his attendants 
about him. In the heat of summer it is pleasant to see 
them while away their time in this manner under the 
shade of a tree.^ Richly-adorned females, as well as 
men, may be often seen thus amusing themselves. As 
may naturally be expected, with whatever care, at first 
sitting down, they choose their place, yet the flowing 
dress by degrees gathers up the dust. As this occurs, 
they, from time to time, arise, adjust themselves, shake 
'Off" the dust, and then sit down again. The captive 
daughter of Zion, therefore, brought down to the dust 
of suflering and oppression, is commanded to arise and 
shake herself from that dust, and with grace, and dignity, 
and composure, and security, to sit down, to take, as it 
were, again her seat and her rank amid the company of 
the nations of the earth, which had before afllicted, and 
trampled on her. — See Jowetfs Christian Researches, pp. 
282, 283. 



\ 



111 



THE HYKE, OR UPPER GARMENT. 

Deuteronomy xxiv. 13. 
" In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again 
when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own 
raiment, and bless thee." 

The raiment here referred to was most likely the 
same as the hyke of the Arabs, a long kind of blanket, 
resembling a highland plaid, generally about six yards 
in length, and five or six feet broad, in which they often 
carry provisions, as well as wrap themselves in, in the 
day, and sleep in at night, it being their only substitute 
for a bed. The nights, indeed, being cold in the Holy 
Land, render such a garment necessary ; and therefore 
God mercifully ordered it to be restored to the poor 
man, before the going down of the sun announced the 
hour of repose. — Shaw's Travels, pp. 289, 290. 

Exodus xii. 11. 
" And thus shall ye eat it ; with your loins girded, 
your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand ; and 
ye shall eat it in hasted (See whole chapter.) 

Luke xii. 35-37. 
" Let your loins he girded about, and ye your- 
selves like unto men that wait for their lord, that 

when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him 
immediately. Blessed are those servants, who the Lord 
when he cometh shall find watching : verily I say unto 
you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit 
down to meat, and will come forth and serve them." 

The dress of the Eastern people is a long loose vest, 
reaching down to the calf of the leg. 

Such a garment is troublesome to the wearers, when 
engaged in active pursuits ; they therefore fasten it upon 
the loins with a girdle, which goes three or four times 



112 THE HYKE OR UPPER GARMENT. 

round them ; and when they are travelling, or otherwise 
diligently occupied, they tuck up the fore parts of the 
vest into the girdle, and so fasten them. And this is, 
probably, what is more particularly meant by " girding 
the loins ;'' for the knee being unburthened by the vest, 
walking is more commodious, and therefore the Israel- 
ites, who were to eat the passover in haste, preparatory 
to leaving Egypt, were ordered to have their loins gird- 
ed, ready for their journey. Their shoes, too, were to 
be on their feet, for the same purpose (generally, the 
Eastern people put them off before meals), and their 
staffs (with which in the East it is common to travel 
on foot), in their hands. In like manner Christ's serv- 
ants are not to be careless and inactive, but to be dili- 
gent, and watchful, ready to meet him. — Sir J. Char- 
din's MSS. See Harmer^s Observations, vol. ii., pp. 
210, 211. 

TUNICS. 

John xiii. 4. 
" He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments." 

1 Samuel xix. 23. 
" (He) lay down naked all that day and all that night." 
(See Mark xiv. 51 ; Matthew xxi. 8 ; John xxi. 7 ; Acts 
xii. 8.) 

These hykes were often thrown aside by the wear- 
ers, for convenience. Under them were worn a sort of 
cloak, called Burnoose, made of one piece, strait about 
the neck, and wide below like a cloak. Of this kind, 
probably, was the coat of our Savior, which was woven 
without a seam. The expressions, laying aside the gar- 
ments, and being naked, mean the putting off of the 
hykes and burnooses, and merely wearing the tunic, or 
close-bodied frock ; and it was their hykes that the peo- 
ple spread before our Lord, when he entered Jerusalem. 
■ — Shawns Travels, pp. 290-292. 



TUNICS. 113 

Luke vi. 38. 
" Give, and it shall be given unto you ; good measure, 
pressed down, and shaken together, shall men give into 
your bosom." 

Almost all ancient nations, and particularly those 
of the East, wore long, wide, and loose garments ; and 
when about to carry away anything that their hands 
could not contain, they used a fold in the bosom of their 
robe, nearly in the same way that women in England 
use their aprons. An old Greek writer* relates a story 
of a man named Alcmaeon, who, having been promised 
by the rich king Cra3sus, that he should have as much 
gold as he could carry about his body at once, put on a 
very wide tunic, leaving a great space in the bosom, and 
also the widest buskins he could procure. Being con- 
ducted into the treasury, he stuffed first the buskins, 
and then his whole hosom, with money, and having 
afterward loaded his hair, and filled his mouth with the 
same, walked out of the treasury, his appearance scarcely 
retaining that of a human form. The story illustrates 
the use of the word bosom. — See Harmer's Observations, 
vol. i., pp. 66, 67. 

PARTY-COLORED GARMENTS. 

2 Samuel xiii. 18. 
" And she had a garment of divers colors upon her : 
for with such robes were the king's daughters that were 
virgins apparelled." 

Genesis xxxvii. 3 

" Now Israel loved Joseph, and he made him a 

coat of many colors." 

Judges v. 30. 
" To Sisera a prey of divers colors, a prey of divers 
colors of needlework, of divers colors of needlework 

* Herodotus, vi. 125. 
10* 



114 PARTY-COLORED GARMENTS. 

on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the 
spoil r 

Party-colored garments were esteemed a mark of 
honor in the East. They wear there shirts of linen, 
cotton, or gauze under their tunics. The sleeves of 
their shirts are wide and open, and those of the women 
particularly are oftentimes of the richest gauze, adorned 
with different colored ribands, sewed to each other. 

The Eastern warriors, also, though rough in their 
manners, are often gorgeously dressed. The Eastern 
ladies pass their time at their looms, embroidering veils 
and robes ; and these last, which answer to our cloaks, 
sit very straight about the neck. Such a one the wife 
of Sisera alludes to, as fit for the neck of her husband, 
whom she expected to return in triumph. — See Har- 
mer^s Observations, vol ii,, pp. 385, 386, 387. 



ARAB CLOAK. 

John xix. 23. 
" Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, 
took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier 
a part : and also his coat : now the coat was without 
seam, w 3ven from the top throughout." 

The Arabs wear a cloak of very coarse and heavy 
camel's-hair cloth, almost universally decorated with 
black and white stripes, passing vertically down the back: 
this is of one square piece, with holes for the arms. It 
has a seam down the back. Made without this seam, 
it is considered of greater value. Here, then, perhaps, 
we behold the form and materials of our Savior's gar- 
ment, for which the soldier cast lots ; being " without 
seam, woven fromx the top throughout." It was the most 
ancient dress of the inhabitants of this country. — Dr. 
darkens Travels, vol. iv., p. 158. 



FACE- VEIL. 115 

FACE-VEIL. 

Genesis xxiv. 65. 
" She took a veil, and covered herself." 

The face-veil is a long strip of white muslin, con- 
cealing the whole of the face except the eyes, and 
reaching nearly to the feet. It is suspended at the top 




6y a narrow band, which passes up the forehead, and 
which is sewed, as are also the two upper corners of the 
veil, to a band that is tied round the head. The veil is 
of very remote antiquity. — Lane's Modern Egyptians^ 
vol. i., pp. 51-53. 

WEDDING-GARMENT. 

Matthew xxii. 11, 12. 
" And when the king came in to see the guests, he 
saw there a man which had not on a wedding-garment ; 
and he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in 
hither not having a wedding-garment V 



116 WEDDING-GARMENT. 

Among the Romans, the master of the house often 
piqued himself upon furnishing his guests with magnifi- 
cent habits. They consisted of a kind of loose mantles. 
Martial reproaches Luscus with having more than once 
carried off two from the house where he had supped. 
It was also customary in the East to changes their robes 
at feasts. The master of the house gave one to each of 
his guests ; none were to appear without it. Thus, in 
the parable of the marriage-feast, the guest who had it 
not was driven out by order of the king. — See V Arney^s 
Life of the Romans, p. 118 ; Dr, darkens Travels, vol. 
iv., pp. QQ, 67. 

ORNAMENTS. 

Isaiah iii. 16. 

" The daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with 

stretched-forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and 

mincing [tripping] as they go, and making a tinkling 

with their feet.' (Ver. 18.) 

Isaiah iii. 21. 
' The rings, and nose-jewels " 

Exodus xxxii. 2 ; Ezekiel xvi. 12. 
" The golden ear-rings." 

In Persia, Arabia, and other hot countries, where the 
people commonly wear no stockings, and only walk in 
shoes, they have rings about their ankles, which are full 
of little bells. Children and young girls take a partic- 
ular pleasure in giving them motion, and tHerefore walk 
quickly. — Sir /. Chardin ; Harmer^s Observations, vol. 
iv., p. 305, note. 

" In almost all the East," a traveller* tells us, " the 
women wear rings in their noses, in the left nostril, 
which is bored low down in the middle. These rings 
are of gold, and have commonly two pearls and one 
ruby between, placed in the ring. I never saw a girl 
or young woman, in Arabia or Persia, who did not wear 

* Sir J. Chardin. 



ORNAMENTS. 117 

a ring after this manner in her nostril." Where rino-s 
for the face are mentioned in Scripture, this ornament 
is probably often meant, as in Ezek. xvi. 12 (marg.) ; 




Gen. xxiv. 22. The women also wear ear-rings, of which 
some are immensely large. They are made of several 
kinds of metal, horn, or wood, according to the rank of 
their owners. — Harmer^s Observations, vol. iv., pp, 
311,314. 

Genesis xxiv. 22. 
" And it came to pass, as the camels had done drink 
ing, that the man took a golden ear-ring of half a sheke 
weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels 
weight of gold " 

Judges viii. 26. 
" And the weight of the golden ear-rings that he re- 
quested viRs a thousand and seven hundred shekels of 
gold ; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment 
that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains 
that were about their camels' necks." 



118 ORNAMENTS. 

The ornaments given to Rebecca, appear to us of enor- 
mous weight, ten shekels being about five ounces. Bu 
rings and bracelets as heavy, or even much heavier, are 
worn through all Asia. The v^omen sometimes have 
their arms, from their v^rist to the elbov^, covered with 
such like ornaments, those of the poor being made of 
glass or horn. — Sir J. Chardin ; Harmer's Observations, 
voL iv., pp. 420, 421. 

When Cambyses sent bracelets and a chain of gold 
among his presents to the prince of Ethiopia, the latter, 
on hearing the nature of those ornaments described, and 
conceiving them to be chains, laughed, and remarked 
that the Ethiopians possessed much stionger. For 
according to the reports received by Herodotus, criminals 
in Ethiopia were confined by chains of gold ; brass being 
the rarest of all metals ip that country. The weight of the 
ancient bracelets seems to justify his sentiment. It was 
evidently an ornament of dignity. By the Roman generals 
bracelets were given to their soldiers as a reward of 
bravery, and the same among the Persians. The brace- 
let of Saul was brought to David by the Amalekite : and 
small chains were also in the remotest times worn round 
the neck, not only by women, but also by the men. These 
were probably the collars mentioned in Judges : and we 
are expressly told by Herodotus, that when MardoniuS; 
the general of Xerxes, was selecting his army, he chose 
the greater part of those Persians who wore collars and 
hracelets^^ evidently signifying that those were men of 
merit and distinction. 

People of consequence to this day decorate their ani- 
mals with chains in Egypt. 

PAINTING THE EYES. 
2 Kings ix. 30. 
" And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard 
of it ; and she painted her face [her eyes], and tired her 
head, and looked out at a window." 

* Bk. viii. 113. See Ch. IY. and Y. 



f 



PAINTING THE EYES. 119 

EzEKiEL xxiii. 40. 
" Ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom 
a messenger was sent ; and lo, they came : for whom 
thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst 
thyself with ornaments." 

There is a practice universal among the females ot 
the higher and ii\iddle classes (in Egypt), and very 
common among those of the lower orders, which is that 
of blackening the edge of the eyelids, both above and 
below the eye, with a bkck powder called kohhl. This 
IS composed of the smoke-1olack produced by burning a 
kind of liban, an aromatic resin. It is also produced by 
burning the shells of almonds. These two kinds are 
used merely for ornament ; but fnere are several used 
for their real or supposed medical properties. The 
kohhl is applied with a small probe of wood, ivory, or 
silver, tapering toward the end, but blunt. This is 
moistened sometimes with rose-water, the^ dipped in the 
powder, and drawn along the edges of the eyelids'. It 
is thought to give a very soft expression to the eye, the 
size of which it in appearance enlarges. To which cir- 
cumstance, probably, Jeremiah refers, when he writes, 
" Though thou rentest thy face [or, thine eyes\ with 
painting," ch. iv. 30. — See Lane's Modern Egyptians^ 
vol. i., pp. 41-43. 

A singular custom is observable both among Moorish 
and Arab females — that of ornamenting the face between 
the eyes with clusters of bluish spots, or other small 
devices, and which, being stained, become permanent. 
The chin is also spotted in a similar manner, and a 
narrow blue line extends from the point of it, and is 
continued down the throat. The eyelashes, eyebrows, 
and also the tips and extremities of the eyelids, are 
colored black. The soles, and sometimes other parts 
of the feet as high as the ankles, the palms of the hands, 
and the nails, are died of a yellowish red with the leaves 
of a plant called henna, the leaf of which somewhat re- 



120 , PAINTING THE EYES. 

sembles the myrtle, and is dried for the purposes above 
mentioned. The back of the hand is also often colored 
and ornamented in this way with different devices. On 
holydays they paint their cheeks of a red-brick color, a 
narrow red line being also drawn down the temples. 

SHAVING THE BEARD- 

2 Samuel x. 4> 
" lianun took David's servants, and shaved off the 
one-half of their beards." 

*' This punishment has frequently been practised in 
modern times, but not so often as the shaving the whole 
of the beard." — Modefi Egyptians, vol. i., p. 32, note. 

The beard is \\e\dt in high respect, and greatly valued 
in the East : the possessor considers it as his greatest 
ornament ; often/swears by it ; and, in matters of great 
importance, pledges it ; and nothing can be more secure 
than such a pledge, for its owner will redeem it at the 
hazard of his life. The beard was never cut off but in 
mourning ^M as a sign of slavery. It is customary to 
shave th0 Ottoman princes, as a mark of their subjection 
to the reigning emperor. The beard is a mark of author- 
ity and liberty among the Mahometans. The Per- 
sians, who clip the beard and shave above the jaw, are 
reputed heretics. They who serve in the seraglios have 
their beards shaven, as a sign of servitude ; nor do they 
suffer them to grow till the sultan has set them at liberty. 
Among the Arabians, it is more infamous for any one 
to appear with his beard cut off, than among us to be 
publicly whipped or branded ; and many would prefer 
death to such a punishment. — Note in the Treasury 
Bible. 

Herodotus mentions that one of the kings of Egypt 
(Rhampsenitus or Rhameses) constructed a stone edifice, 
connected with his palaci3 by a wall, for the security of 
his riches. The architect whom he employed disposeHi 



i 



SHAVING THE BEARD. 121 

t 

one of the stones in such, a manner that two persons, 
or even one, might remove it from its place. In this 
building, when completed, the king deposited his riches. 
Some time afterward, finding his end approaching, the 
artist informed his two sons of the device which he had 
used in building the treasury, and explained the particular 
situation and dimensions of the stone by which they 
might become the managers of the king's riches. The 
sons were not long in visiting the building and remov- 
ing the stone, and carried away during the night a large 
sum of money. This was frequently repeated, to the as- 
tonishment of the king, who saw his treasures materially 
diminished, while the seals of the doors remained un- 
broken, and every entrance was properly secured. He, 
therefore, ordered traps to be placed round the ves- 
sels which contained his wealth. The robbers came as 
before, but one of them proceeding directly toward the 
vessels, was caught in the snare, and calling to his 
brother, entreated him to cut off his head instantly, as 
the only means of preventing detection and his own 
loss of life. This the other did ; and replacing the 
stone, returned with his brother's head. As soon as 
it was light, the king entered the apartment, and was 
still more amazed to see the body without a head, and 
no appearance of anything having been disturbed. He 
commanded the body to be hung from the wall, and 
placing guards around it, directed them to seize any one 
who exhibited sorrow at the sight of it. The mother of 
the young man, exasperated at this exposure of her son, 
threatened his brother with discovering the whole of the 
robbery, if he did not rescue the dead body. He there- 
fore drove some asses, loaded with flasks of wine, near 
the place, and secretly removing the pegs from the mouth 
of two or three of the skins, the wine ran about, and he 
pretended the greatest distress. The guards immediately 
ran to catch the wine in vessels for themselves, while 
they attempted to pacify the owner, who at first seemed 
much enraged, but gradually listened to them, and afFect- 

11 



122 SHAVING THEEEABD. 

ing to be pleased with the conversation of one of them, 
gave them a flask of wine and they sat down to drink. 
The young man produced a second flask, and the guards 
soon became drunk and fell asleep, when he took down 
under the advantage of the night, the body of his brother, 
and in derision shaved the right cheeks of the guards^ — 
Herodotus^ bk. ii., 121. 

HORNS. 

Psalm Ixxv. 5, 10. 
" Lift not up your horn on high : speak not with a 
stifl* neck. . . . All the horns of the wicked will I cut 
oflf but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted." — 
(See Ps. xcii. 10 ; Lament, ii. 3 ; Luke i. 69.) 

The word horn is so frequently used in Scripture 
as to make it evident that much meanino- is attached to 
it ; but at that meaning we cannot arrive, without some 
acquaintance with the manner in which horns were used 
in the East. Horns were worn by persons in authority. 
The head-dress of the ■ governors of the provinces of 
Abyssinia consists of a large broad fillet bound upon the 
forehead, and tied behind the head. In the middle of 
this is a horn, or a conical piece of silver gilt, about four 
inches long, much in the shape of our common candle 
extinguishers. This is called a horn ; and is only worn 
at reviews, or parades after victory. The crooked man- 
ner in which they hold the neck, when this ornament is 
on their forehead, for fear it should fall forward, explains 
what David calls " speaking v^ith a stiff neck :" it would 
be diflicult, with anything so heavy on the head, not to 
hold it ia a stiff" and consequential manner. William Penn 
thus relates his first interview w4th the American Indians, 
when he purchased the land for his province of Pennsyl- 
vania : " One of the chiefs," says he, " put on his head 
a kind of chaplet in which appeared a small horn. This 
was an emblem of kingly power; and whenever the chief, 
who had a right to wear it, put it on^ it was understood 



HORNS. 123 

that the place was made sacred, and the persons of all 
present inviolable. Upon putting on this horn, the In- 
dians threw down their bows and arrows, and seated 
themselves round their chiefs, in the form of a half- 
moon, upon the ground. The chiefs then announced to 
William Penn, by means of an interpreter, that the 
nations were ready to hear him." The horn, then, was 
an emblem of kingly power. Thus Daniel and St. John 
represent powerful kingdoms under the image of horns. 
(See Dan. vii. 7 ; Rev. xiii. 1, 11.) It expresses strength 
and majesty: so, when the false prophets described the 
strength of Ahab's army, one of them " made him horns 
of iron" (1 Kings xxii. 11), signifying that the enemy 
should flee before Israel, as before a strong and horned 
animal. Christ also is called " the horn of our salva- 
tion ;" that is, He is our king, in whom is all our 
strength, and who has also '' become our salvation." 

SPLENDOR OF THE EASTERN DRESSES. 

I Peter iii. 3. 
*' Whose adorninor let it not be that outward adorning 
of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of put- 
ting on of apparel." 

Whatever other fashions may have changed in the 
East— and yet we may truly believe that very few have 
varied — there is one still stationary, the sight of which 
carries us back to the remotest Scripture antiquity : 
I mean the fashion of splendid dresses. I had a full 
specimen of it this evening, in the lady of the house. 
She produced from her wardrobe, at least ten heavy 
outer-garments, coats of many colors, embroidered and 
spangled with gold and silver flowers. I was weary 
with her showing them at which she seemed sur- 
prised. There are some of them as old as the date of 
her marriage — some still older. They are only worn on 
great festivals, as Christmas Easter, &c., when she sits 



24 



SPLENDOR OF THE EASTERN DRESSES. 



in State to receive her friends, and hands coffee and a 
pipe to them. It is curious, however, to see how her 
splendid dresses are contrasted with her humble daily 
occupations : for, in the ordinary duties of the house, 
she is to be found sweeping out the kitchen, boiling the 




pot, &c.; and she eats her meals when her husband aEd 
his friends have finished, sitting on the ground with her 
children and servants, at the parlor-door ; and such, 
generally, is the condition of females in Eastern coun- 
tries. She wears an infinity of braids, which hang down 
all the length of her back, and terminate in gold sequins ; 
which, together with those she wears on her head, may 
be Avorth from five to ten pounds sterling. The advice 
of St. Peter is quite forgotten in this land. The orna- 
ment of a meek and quiet spirit appears to be very little 
known ; but the adorning of plaiting the hair, and of 
wearing of gold, and of putting on of apparel, is most 
studiously retained. — Jowetfs Researches, pp. 97, 98. 



SPLENDOR OF THE EASTERN DRESSES. 



125 



1 Timothy ii. 9. 
'* In like manner also, that women adorn themselves 
in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety ; 
not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly 
array." 

The costume of the Barbary Jewesses, is splendid in 
the highest degree. Their robes, which fold over, and 
are girt round by a silk sash worked, in gold, are usu- 
ally of superfine scarlet or green cloth, richly embroi- 
dered with gold. On holydays, they wear splendid ear- 
rings, and a magnificent tiara of pearls, emeralds, and 
other precious stones, with numerous rings on their fin- 
gers. The trinkets that are there worn by a young- 
Jewess of the middle classes, amount frequently in value 
to more than a hundred pounds. 




11^ 



126 



CHAPTER VIL 

Various Methods of Writing — Written Mountains — Writing 
Tables — Ancient Books — Manner of Reading — Drawing on 
Tiles — Signet-rings — Sealing — Sacrifices Sealed in Egypt. 

WRITING BOOKS. 

Job xix. 23, 24. 

" Oh that itiy words were now written ! Oh that they 
were printed [written] in a book ! That tliey were graven 
with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever '" 

Jeremiah xvii. 13. 
" They that depart from me shall be written in che 
earth." (See also Psalm Ixix. 28.) 

John viii. 6. 
" Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on 
the ground." 

In Barbary, children are taught to write on smooth 
thin boards, daubed over with whiting, which may be 
wiped off or renewed at pleasure ; and in India, children 
write their lesson with their fingers on the ground, the 
pavement being for that purpose strewed all over with 
very fine sand. When the pavement is full, they put 
the writings out, and, if necessary, strew new sand from 
a little heap before them. Thus, Jeremiah says, that 
they who depart from the Lord shall be written in the 
earth, — as soon be blotted out and forgotten, as the wri- 
ting of a child upon the sand. 

In Arabia (where Job lived), some v/ritings are found 
engraved in the natural rock. Near Sinai, are some 
mountains called the Written Mountains ; engraved with 
a pointed instrument in ancient, and now unknown 
characters. Some other inscriptions in the wilderness 
are stained, or painted in the rock ; and this staining 



WRITING ■ 



• BOOKS. 



127 



sinks some depth into the stone, and is extremely dura- 
ble. And this may be the graving with lead (as our 
translation renders it), to which Job refers. " Oh P 
he exclaims, " that my words were written !" — not upon 
sand, but in a book ; yet since that too is liable to injury, 
let them be graven with an iron pen, or stained, in the 
rock for ever ! — Harmer's Observations, vol, iii., pp. 122, 
123, note ; 59, 64-66. 




WRITING-TABLES. 



Habakkuk ii. 2. 
" Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that 
he may run that readeth it." 

In this verse, there is an allusion to an eastern prac- 



128 WRITING-TABLES 

lice. Writing-tables were used in very ancient times ir 
the East. They were made of wood, consisted of two, 
three, or five leaves, and were covered with Vv'ax ; on 
this, impressions were easily made ; they lasted long, 
and were very legible. It was also a custom among the 
Romans, for the public affairs of every year to be com- 
mitted to writing by the high-priest, and published on a 
table. Such tables were exposed to public view, so that 
the people might have an opportunity of becoming 
acquainted with their contents. It was usual, moreover, 
to suspend lavv^s approved and recorded on tables of 
brass in their market-places and temples, that they might 
be seen and read ; yea, that he who ran might read them. 
— Extracted from the Weekly Visitor 

ANCIENT BOOKS. 

EzEKiEL ii. 9, 10. 
" And when I looked, behold, a hand was sent unto 
me ; and lo, a roll of a book was therein ; and he 
spread it before me ; and it was written within and with- 
out ; and there was written therein lamentations, and 
mourning, and wo." (See also Ezra vi. 2 ; Isaiah viii. 
1 ; xxxiv. 4 ; Rev. vi. 14.) 

The ancient books did not resemble ours. They 
were written upon long sheets of linen, leather, papyrus 
(a kind of paper made from the thin skin which covered 
a sort of bulrush called papyrus, which grew in Egypt), 
or parchment, and each end was fastened to a piece of 
wood, round which the book was rolled. The manner 
of reading in it was by gradually unrolling it, rolling up 
the part read, and opening more. Dr. Buchanan found 
an old copy of the law in India, written on a roll of 
leather about fifteen feet long ; but some of these rolls 
were as much as a hundred feet in length.* The Rev. 
J. Hartley, in his travels in Greece, gives the following 

*Specimens of these leather and papyrus rolls are in the British 
Mnseum. 



ANCIENT BOOKS. 129 

account of two rolls he found there in a monastery. He 
alludes to Ezek. ii. 9, 10, and then says : "In the mon- 
astery I observed two very beautiful rolls of this de- 
scription ; they contained the Liturgy of St. Chrysostom, 
and that attributed by the Greeks to St. James. You 
begin to read by unrolling, and you continue to read and 
unroll, till at last you arrive at the stick to which the 
roll is fastened : then you turn the parchment round, 
and continue to read on the other side, rolling it gradu- 
ally up till you complete the Liturgy." Thus it was 
written ivithin and without. The parchment and linen 
were very apt to decay, if kept in moist places. Jere- 
miah therefore ordered Baruch to place the writings 
mentioned in chap, xxxii, 14, in an earthen vessel, that 
they might continue many days.^ — Hartley's Re- 
searches in Greece and the Levant, pp. 215, 216. 

BOOKS. 

Revelation v. 1. 
" And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the 
throne a book written within and on the back side, 
sealed with seven seals." 

Books, as is generally known, are usually written on 
palm-leaf, with an iron pen or style. The leaf is pre- 
pared with care, and of good books the edges are gilded. 
Some have the margins illuminated, and gilded with 
considerable elegance. The book is defended by thin 
slabs of wood, more or less ornamented. Sometimes 
thin leaves of ivory are used, and occasionally gilded 
sheet iron. For common books, a thick black paper is 
used, which is written upon with a pencil of steatite. 
The writing may be removed with the hand, as from a 
slate, and such books last a long time. They are in 
one piece of several yards long, and folded like a fan. 
They can, of course, be used on both sides ; and every 

*We learn the same fact from the Egyptian papyri in the 
British Museum. 



130 : MANNER OF READING. 

portion may be sealed up by itself, thus furnisliing a 
good idea of the book mentioned in Revelation v. ] , 
which was '* written within and on the back side, sealed 
with seven seals." — Travels in South-Eastern Asia, bv 
the Rev. H. Malcom. 

MANNER OF READING. 

Acts viii. 27-30. 

" A man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority 

under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the 

charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem 

for to worship, was returning ; and sitting in his chariot, 

read Esaias the prophet And Philip ran thither 

to him, and heard him read " 

"Their way of reading aloud brings to my mind 
some remarks which I have often made on the customs 
of the Levant. Generally speaking, people in these 
countries seem not to understand a book till they have 
made it vocal. They usually go on reading aloud, with 
a kind of singing voice, moving their heads and bodies 
in time, and making a monotonous cadence at regulai 
intervals ; thus giving emphasis, although not such as 
would please an English ear. Very often they seem to 
read without perceiving the sense ; and to be pleased 
with themselves, merely because they can go through 
thf mechanical act of reading in any way. They run 
over a full period as if they had no perception of it, and 
stop in the middle of a sentence, wherever they happen 
10 want to take breath. On one occasion, when I was 
showing some persons from an English book how we 
read, inartificially and naturally, they laughed, and said, 
' You are not reading, you are talking.' I might retort 
upon an Oriental reader, ' You are not reading, you are 
chanting.' I can very well understand how it was that 
Philip would hear at what passage in Isaiah the Ethio 
pian eunuch was reading, before he was invited to come 
up and sit with him in the chariot. The eunuch, though 



DRAWING ON TILES, 131 

probably reading to himself, and not particularly design 
ing to be heard by his attendants, would read loud 
enough to be understood by a person at some distance " 
— Joweti's Researches, pp. 120, 121. 

DRAWING ON TILES. 

EzEKIEL \V. 1. 

" Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it 
before thee, and portray upon it the city even Jeru- 
salem." 

There are on the island of Elephantina, singular 
memorials of the Roman troops which have been quar- . 
tered there. Many broken red pieces of earthenware, 
shreds of the potsherd, are found, which appears to have 
served as tickets to the soldiers, assigning them their 
portion of corn. The name of the Emperor Antoninus 
was found on some of them. They are written in Greek, 
and in black, in a running hand, very similar to that 
which is used in a Greek letter at this day.* They are 
in small pieces, about half the size of a man's hand, and 
each one appears complete, though it is difficult to deci- 
pher them. This seems to illustrate the command to 
Ezekiel (ch. iv. 1). He probably drew his picture of 
Jerusalem upon some such piece of red earthenware as 
these of the Roman soldiers. — Rev. S. S. Wilsori's 
Malta. 

SIGNET-RING. 

Genesis xli. 41, 42. 
" And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I hai^e set thee 
over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his 
ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand." 

•Many of these potsherds, with Greek inscriptions, being gene- 
tally receipts for corn, &c., are in the British Museum : they 
were brought from Egypt, and are very common in Nubia. 



132 



SIGNET-RING. 



EzEKiEL ix. 2, 4. 
" One man among them was clothed with linen, with 
a writer's inkhorn by his side : . . . and the Lord said 
unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the 
midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads 
of the men that sigh, and, that cry for all the abomina- 
tions that be done in the midst thereof." 



Revelation vii. 3. 
" Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, 
till we have sealed the servants of our God in their 
foreheads." 

>. ON:,the little finger of the right hand is worn a seal- 
ring, Athich is generally of silver, with a cornelian, or 
other stone, upon which is engraved the wearer's name : 
the name is accompanied by the words, " his servant" 




(signifying, the servant, or worshipper of God), and 
often by other words expressive of the person's trust in 
God, &c. The seal-ring is used for sealing letters and 
other waitings, and its impression is considered more 



SIGNET-RINr. 133 

valid tlian the sign manual. (Therefore, giving the ring 
to another person is the utmost marl: of confidence.) 
A little ink is dabbed upon it with one of the fingers, 
and it is pressed upon the paper ; the person who uses 
it having first touched his tongue with another finger, 

! and moistened the place in tho paper which is to be 

I stamped. Almost every person v/ho can afford it has a 
seal-ring, even though he be a servant. The regular 
scribes, literary men, and many others, wear a silver, 
brass, or copper case, with receptee- s for ink and pens, 
stuck in the girdle. Some have, in lli^ place of this, a 
case-knife. — Lane's Modern Egyptians, vol. i., pp. 35, 
36. 

The use of such instruments for signature is recorded 
in the books of Moses, seventeen hundred years before 
the Christian era, and the practice has continued in 
Eastern countries, with little variation, to the present 

) day. The signets of the Turks are of this description : 
the Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians, had the same cus- 
tom. In the thirty-eighth chapter of Genesis we read 
that Tamar demanded the signet of Judah ; and above 
three thousand years have passed since the great law- 
giver of the Jews* was directed to engrave the names 
of the children of Israel upon onyx-stones, " like the 
engravings of a signet," to be set in ouches of gold, for 
the shoulders of the ephod. That the signet was of 
stone set in metal, in the time of Moses, is also evident 
from this passage of sacred history : " With the engra- 
vings of a signet shalt thou engrave the two stones ; thou 
shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold." Signets 

B without stones, and entirely of metal, did not come into 

|i use until the time of Claudius Cesar.f 

* Exodus xxviii. 9, 10, 11. 

t According to Philo, beside the common use of a ring, it was 
worn by the kings of Egypt as a sign of betrothing the state over 
which they ruled. There may be some reference to this in the 
instance of Pharaoh, above mentioned, as in this. ^ 

12 



134 ^ STEALING WITH CLAY. 

SEALING V/ITH CLAY. 

Job xxxviii. 14. 
" It is turned as clay to the seal." 

The birds pillage the granary of Joseph, where some 
of the corn of Egypt is deposited, extremely, for it is 
quite uncovered at the top, there being little or no rain 
in that country. The doors, however, are kept carefully 
sealed, but not with wax. The inspectors put their seal 
upon a handful of clay, with which they cover the lock 
of the door. —Hanner^s Observations, vol. iv., pp. 376, 
377. 

But official letters, and especially those connected with 
the affairs of the temples in Egypt, were of papyrus, and 
the seal is always formed of mud or clay, much resem- 
bling our common bread-seals. They may be seen in 
the British Museum ; and as papyrus was used even 
before the Trojan war, it is probable that Job rather re- 
fers to this custom. 

SACRIFICES SEALED IN EGYPT. 

John vi. 27. 
" Him hath God the Father sealed.'^'* 

It was usual among the nations about Judea to set a 
seal upon the victim deemed proper for sacrifice. The 
Egyptian's offer white bulls in sacrifice to one of their 
gods. If on one of these animals they find even a black 
hair they deem him unclean. But if he be found without 
blemish, the priest signifies it by binding a label to his 
horns, then, applying wax, seals it with, his ring, and the 
beast is led away ; for to sacrifice one not thus sealed 
would be punished with death. The bull, thus sealed, is 
brought to the altar, and afterward its head is cut off, 
and sometimes thrown into the * river, with the curse, 
Ihat " if there be any evil hanging over the land of 
Egypt, it may be poured on that headr 



SACRIFICES SEALED IiV EGYPT. 



135 



So God, infinite in holiness and justice, found Jesus 
Christ to be a Iamb without blemish and without spot, 
and therefore sealed him^, and laid upon him the iniquity 
of us all. If the blood of bulls, and of goats, and the 
ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth, 
how much more shall the blood of Christ, who thrDugh 
the Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, 
purge your consciences from dead works to serve the 
living God ! — See Harmer's Observations^ vol. i,, pp 
68, 69. 




136 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Customs relating to the Dead — Assemblies of Mourners — Mourn ^ 
ing Women — Mournful Music — Tumultuous Grief of the 
Mourners — Signs of Grief— Uncovering the Head and Feet — 
Covering the Lips — Funeral Feasts — Idolatrous cuttings of the 
Flesh — Baldness between the Eyes — Forty Days^ Mourning. 



ASSEMBLIES OF MOURNEUS. 

Exodus xxxiii. 4. 
" And when the people heard these evil tidings, they 
mourned ; and no man did put on him his ornaments," — 
(See ver. 5, 6.) 

Psalm Ivi. 8. 
"Put thou my tears into thy bottle." 

Luke xxiii. 48. 
»' And all the people that came together to that sight, 
beholding the things which were done, smote their 
breasts, and returned." — (Luke xviii. 13.) 

Among further particulars respecting the mourning 
tor " Hossein,"* Mr. Morier says, that on entering a large 
assembly of Persians, " we found them clad in dark- 
colored clothes, which, accompanied with their black 
caps, their black beards, and their dismal faces, really 
looked as if they were afflicting their souls. We observed 
that ' no man did put on his ornaments.^ They neither 
wore their daggers nor any part of their dress which they 
look upon as ornamental. A priest without, surrounded 
by the populace, read a part of the tragic history oC 

*Hossein was the grandson of Mahomet, and was by the Persians 
believed to be the rightful calif: he was, however, rejected by 
the majority of the followers of Mahomet, and was slain by the 
troops of his rival. The Persians mourn for him annually. 



ASSEMBLIES OF MOURNERS. 1 37 

Hossein, which soon produced a great effect upon the 
audience. Most of them appeared to cry very unaffect- 
edly. In some of these mournful assemblies, it is the 
custom for the priest to go about to each person at the 
height of his grief, with a piece of cotton in his hand, 
with which he carefully collects the falling tears, and 
which he then squeezes into a bottle, preserving them 
with the greatest caution. This practically illustrates 
that passage in the Psalms, ' Put my tears into thy 
bottle.' Some Persians believe that in the agony of 
death, when all medicines have failed, a drop of tears, so 
collected, put into the mouth of a dying man, has been 
known to revive him ; and it is for such use that they 
are collected." .... 

" In front of the palace a circle of the king's OAvn tribe 
were standing barefooted, and beating their breasts in 
cadence to the chanting of one who stood in the centre, 
and with whom they now and then joined their voices in 
chorus. Smiting the breast is a universal act through- 
out the mourning ; and the breast is made bare for that 
purpose, by unbuttonino" the top of the shirt." — Morier's 
Second Journey^ SfC.^ pp. 178, 179. 

MOURNING WOMEN. 

Jeremiah ix. 17-19. 
" Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that 
they may come ; and send for cunning women, that they 
may come : and let them make haste, and take up a wail- 
ing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and 
our eyelids gush out with waters."— (See Amos v. 16.) 

1 Kings viii. 30. 
" And they mourned over him, saying, Alas ! my 
brother !" 

Jeremiah xxii. 18. 
" They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah, my 
brother ! or, Ah, sister ! they shall not lament for hira, 
saying, Ah, Lord ! or, Ah, his glory !" 

12* 



138 



MOURNING WOMEN. 



On the occasion of a death in the East, the women S 
the family break out into the most violent lamentatiotis, 
crying out, " Oh, my master ! O, camel of the house ! 
O ! my misfortune !" &c., in which they are often joined 
by the females of the neighborhood, who come to the 
house of mourning, and unite with the inmates in theii 




waihngs.* But there are certain individuals who make 
it their business to weep for the dead, and who offer theit 
services on all such occasions "/or a consideration;^'' 
depending on sf.ch exertions for their livelihood. Tha4 
is to say, there are women who may be hired to attend on 
the corpse, and to aid the mourners in bewailing the 
death of their friend, which they do with the most violent 
gesticulations, weeping,- shrieking, rending their clothes, 
and by other means intimating an intensity of sorrow 
(which it is needless to say they cannot feel), for the 

* Lane's Modern Egyptians, vol. ii., p. 286. 



MOURNING WOMEN. 139 

loss their employers have sustained. The Jewish doc- 
tors inform us that this practice was so common that the 
poorest man in Israel, when his wife died, would hire 
at least one mourning woman. 

The root of this singular custom appears to be, that 
the eastern nations require manifestations of strong feel- 
ing to be marked and exaggerated. Hence their emo- 
tions, particularly those of grief, have a most violent 
expression ; and still unsatisfied with their own sorrow, 
which they thought yielded too little honor to the dead, 
they made an art of mourning, and employed in it women 
of shrill voices, copious of tears, and skilful in lamen^.a- 
tions and in praises of the departed. When a person in 
a family died, it was usual for the female relatives to 
seat themselves on the ground in a separate apartment, 
in a circle, in the centre of which sat the wife, daugh- 
ter, or other nearest relative, and thus, assisted by the 
mourning women, conducted their loud and piercing 
lamentations. At intervals the mourning women took 
the leading part, on a signal from the chief mourner, and 
then the real mourners remained comparatively silent, 
but attested their grief by sobs, by beating their faces, 
tearing their hair, and sometimes wounding themselves 
with their nails, joining also aloud in the lamenting cho- 
rus of the hired mourners. In Egypt, each woman 
brings with her a tambourine, beating it, and exclaiming 
several times, " Alas for him !" and the female relations 
and friends of the deceased, with dishevelled hair, and 
sometimes with rent clothes, cry in like manner, " Alas 
for him !" Among the Romans similar usages obtained. 
Mourners were placed at the dead man's door, who, by 
their bare breasts, which they often smote, their mourn 
ful plaints, and profuse tears, sought to move the minds 
of the spectators to admiration of the departed, and com- 
passion for his friends. And thus the prophet says, 
'' Call for the cunning women, that they may come ; and 
let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, that 
our eyes may rur down with tears, and our eyelids gush 



140 MOURNING WOMEN. 

out with waters." The same custom is still retained 
among the Irish at their funeral feasts or wakes. 

MOURNFUL MUSIC— TUMULTUOUS GRIEF OF THE 
MOURNERS— SIGNS OF GRIEF— UNCOVERING THE 
HEAD AND FEET— COVERING THE LIPS— FUNER- 
AL FEASTS. 

Matthew ix. 23. 
"• Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the min- 
strels and the people making a noise." 

Genesis xlv. 2. 
" And he wept aloud : and the Egyptians and the 
house of Pharaoh heard." 

Job i. 20. 
" Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved 
his head." 

EzEKiEL xxiv. 17. 
" Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind 
the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes 
upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the 
bread of men." — (See Levit. xiii. 45 ; Jer. xvi. 5-8.) 

Singing and music of a mournful kind are much used 
in the East on solemn occasions. We read in the Scrip- 
tures of singing men and singing women, who were par- 
ticularly skilled in vocal performances ; and in Egypt, 
even now, women who play on tabors, and sing mournful 
airs to the sound of that instrument, are called in to be- 
w^ail the dead. The death of any person is sure to be 
accompanied with great noise and tumult. The con- 
course in places where people lie dead is incredible. 
Everybody runs thither — the poor and the rich. Sir J. 
Chardin says (with reference particularly to the passage 
in Gen. xlv. 2, on the house of Pharaoh hearing Joseph 
when he wept), that the sentiments of joy or of grief 
among the eastern nations are properly transports, un- 
governed and excessive. " When any one returns from 



MOURNFUL MUSIC. 141 

tt long journey, or dies, his family burst into cries that 
may be heard twenty doors off ; and this is renewed at 
different times, and continues many days, according to 
the vigor of the passion. Especially are these cries 
long in the case of death, and frightful. I was lodged, 
in the year 1676, at Ispahan, near the royal square 
The mistress of the next house to mine died at the time. 
The moment she expired, all the family, to the number 
of twenty-fiv^e or thirty people, set up such a furious cry 
that I was quite startled, and was above two hours be- 
fore I could recover myself. (This happened in the 
middle of the night, when Sir John was in bed, and he 
imagined that his own servants w^ere actually murdered.) 
These cries continue a long time, then cease all at once 
They begin again as suddenly, at daybreak, and in con- 
cert. It is this suddenness which is so terrifytng, to- 
gether with a greater shrillness and loudness than one 
can easily imagine." 

Ezekiel was directed \p bind the tire of his head upon 
him. To uncover the head was a sign of mourning. In 
the days of Job, no covering beside the hair seems to 
have been worn : therefore, in the time of his affliction, 
he merely shaved his head ; but in the days of Ezekiel, 
turbans, such as are now common in the East, were 
probably used, and these were cast aside in time of 
mourning. 

Put on thy shoes upon thy feet. — In Barbary, the rela- 
tions of the deceased, for seven days after the interment, 
stir not abroad ; or if, by some extraordinary occasion, 
they are forced to go out of doors, it is without shoes — 
which is a token with them that they have lost a deor 
friend. 

Cover not thy lips. — The Jews in Barbary, when re- 
turning from the grave in which they have deposited a 
friend, go to the house of the deceased, where one as 
chief mourner receives them, with his jaws tied up with 
a linen cloth, after the same manner that they bind up 
the dead ; and thus muffled, the mourner goes for seven 



142 MOURNFUL MUSIC. 

days, during which time the rest of his friends cMie 
twice every four-and-twenty hours to pray with him. 
The Jewish law directed the leper, who was in truth as 
one dead (Leviticus xiii. 45), to put a similar covering 
upon his lips. 

And eat not the bread of men. This alludes to the 
funeral feasts made in these countries, when provisions 
were sent to the house of the deceased, by the neigh- 
bors, friends, or relations, and where the w^^rd comfort- 
ing is employed, it is in reference to these feasts. Of 
this bread of other men, Ezekiel was not to partake, as 
was usual in times of mourning. The instructions given 
to him appear to run thus : " Thou shalt not cry out 
with the vehement noises common in thy country ; thou 
shalj not weep with bitter sobbings, nor even sufler tear's 
to §tart. On the contrary, be silent and assume none of 
the usual forms of mourning. Wear thy turban and 
thy shoes, muffle not up thy face, and eat not the bread 
prepared by the humane for tke afflicted." — Harmer^s 
Observations, vol. iii., pp. 2, 34, note ; 16-18, 10-14, 
8-10. 

IDOLATROUS CUTTINGS OF THE FLESH— BALDNESS 
BETWEEN THE EYES. 

Leviticus xix. 28. 
" Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh /(?r the 
d-ead.^^ 

Deuteronomy xiv. 1. 
" Ye are the children of the Lord your God : ye shall 
no* cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your 
eyes for the dead." 

1 Kings xviii. 28. 
*' And they cried aloud and cut themselves, after their 
manner, with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed 
out upon them." — (See also Jeremiah xvi. 6.) 

Mr. Morier witnessed the celebration which takes 
place annually in Persia, of the death of Hossein, grand- 



IDOLATROUS CUTTINGS OF THE FLESH. 143 

son of Mahomet, who was slain. The commemoration 
of this event awakens the strongest passions of the Per- 
sians, entertaining, as they do, the highest veneration 
for the person of Hossein. " I have seen the most 
violent of them, as they vociferated, ' Ya Hossein !' walk 
about the streets almost naked, with only their loins 
covered, and their bodies streaming with blood, by the 
voluntary cuts which they have given to themselves, 
either as acts of love, anguish, or mortification. Such 
must have been the cuttings of which we read in Holy 
Writ, which were forbidden to the Israelites by Moses ; 
and these extravagances, I conjecture, must resemble 
the practices of the priests of Baal. (1 Kings xviii.")— ^ 
Morier's Second Journey into Persia^ pp. 176, 177. 

It is still usual among idolatrous nations for mourners 
to cut themselves in a very dreadful manner, with stones 
or other instruments ; and similar barbarities were also 
used in the worship of their gods, as we learn from the 
conduct of the priests of Baal. But in order to under- 
stand how making a space bald between the eyes coulcj 
be an expression of grief, we must know" something of the 
eastern ideas of beauty. Black hair is most esteemed 
among the Persians, as well on the head, as on the eye- 
brows, and in the beard. They think the largest and 
thickest eyebrows the most beautiful, especially whei:» 
they are of such a size as to touch one another. Thfe ' 
Arab women have the most beautiful "^eyebrows of this 
sort. The Persian women, when they have them not 
of this color, tinge and rub them with black, to mak^ 
them the larger. They also make a black spot in the. 
lower part of the forehead, a little below the eyebrowsi. 
When, therefore, they were in trouble, they disfigured 
themselves by taking away this ornament, and making 
a space bald between their eyes. There was also, 
doubtless, something peculiarly connected with idolatry 
in this custom, since it is forbidden, while shaving the 
head is allowed. — Sir J. Chardin : see Harmer^s Ohser 
vations, vol. iii., pp. 14, 15. 



144 



FORTY DAYS MOURNING. 



FORTY DAYS' MOURNING. 

Genesis 1. 3. 
'' And forty days were fulfilled for him [Jacob] ; for 
so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed." 

Toward the close of the first Thursday after a fu- 
neral in Egypt, the women of the family of the deceased 
again commence a wailing in their house, accompanied 
bv some of their female friends. On the Friday morn- 
ing the women repair to the tomb. The same ceremo- 
nies are repeated on the same days of the next two 
weeks, and again on the Thursday and Friday, which 
complete, or next follow, the first period of forty days 
after the funeral. (See Genesis 1. 3.) — Lane's Modern 
Egyptians, vol. ii., p. 306. 




145 



CHAPTER IX. 

Method of Travelling — March of the Israelites — Arab Tiav- 
elling — Guides — Running Footmen — Manner of Kiding — 
Messengers — Highways — Standards. 

MARCH OF THE ISRAELITES. 

Numbers x. 12-27. 

" And the children of Israel took their journey out of 

the wilderness of Sinai In the first place went the 

standard of the camp of the children of JudaJi, accord- 
ing to their armies ; and over his host was Nahshon the 
son of Amminadab." — (See Numbers vii., where Nahshon 
and the other captains of the host are called princes.) 

Numbers ii. 2. 

" Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch- by 
his own standard.'''* 

Numbers x. 2, 5. 
" Make thee two trumpets of silver, .... that thou 
may est use them for .... the journeying of the camps. 
When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the 
east parts shall go forward ^'^ &;c. 

Numbers ix, 21. 
^ And so it was, when the clouds abode from even 
unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in 
the mornings then they journeyed ; whether it was by 
day or hy night that the cloud was taken up, they jour- 
neyed." 

The annual travelling of those great bodies of people 
that go in pilgrimage to Mecca^ through the desert, may 

* The city of Mecca, in Arabia, was the birth-place of the false 
prophet Mahomet, and his followers go in great multitudes there 
annually. 

13 



146 MARCH OF THE ISRAELITES. 

serve in a striking manner, to illustrate the travelling of 
the children of Israel through those very deseris. 

We learn, from the book of Numbers, that the Isra- 
elites journeyed in companies, — each company having 
a prince over it, and an ensign or standard by which it 
was distinguished, and near which it encamped ; that 
the signal for the moving of the hosts was the blowing 
of a trumpet, and that they travelled by night as well as 
by day. Now the account which a traveller has given 
us of the order observed in the journey of the caravan 
iln which he was, from Mecca, exactly agrees with all 
these circumstances. 

" The first day we set out," writes this gentleman, " it 
was without any order at all, all hurly-burly (the Isra- 
elites also went out at first in haste) ; but the next day 
every one labored to get forward ; and, in order to it, 
there was many times much quarrelling. But alter every 
one had taken his place in the caravan, they orderly and 
peaceably kept the same place till they came to Grand 
Cairo. They travel four camels in a breast, which are 
all tied one after the other, like as in teams. The whole 
body is called a caravan, which is divided in sev^eral 
companies, each of which has its name, and consists, 
it may be, of several thousand camels ; and they move, 
one company after another, like distinct troops. In the 
head of each company is some great gentleman, or offi- 
cer, who is carried in a thing like a horse-litter. Were 
it not for this order, you may guess what confusion 
.would prevail among such a vast multitude. " 

Here we find an officer over a company, as a prince 
'.was over a tribe, among the Israelites. 

Ea^h company of the pilgrims had, moreover, a pole, 
>upon which lights were carried during the night. These 
lights " are somewhat like iron stoves, into which they 
put short dry wood, which some of the camels are loaded 
with. It is carried in great sacks, which have a hole 
Hear the bottom, where the servants take it out as they 
see the fires need a recruit. Every company has one of 



MARCH OF THE ISRAELITES. 



147 



these poles belonging to it, some of which have ten, some 
twelve, of these lights on their tops, or more or less ; and 
they are likewise of different figures as well as numbers ; 
one perhaps, oval-way, like a gate, another triangular, 
or like N or M, &c.; so that every one knows by them 
his respective company. They are carried in the front, 
and set up in the place where the caravan is to pitch, 
before that comes up, at some distance from one another. 
'j'hey are also carried by day, not lighted : but yet by 
the figure and number of them, the pilgrims are directed 
to what company they belong, and without such direc- 
tions it would be impossible to preserve order." 




Here we find the same arrangement as among the 
Israelites ; and as thei/ also travelled by night, their 
standards w^ere probably of the same sort as those here 
described, which would serve them alike day or night. 

The traveller before alluded to gives as further partic- 



148 MARCH or THE ISRAELITES. 

ulars regarding the Mecca caravan. " Every morn 
ing," he says, " they pitch their tents, and rest several 
hours. When the camels are unloaded, the owners drive 
thein to water and give them their provender. As soon 
as our tents were pitched, my business was to make a 
little fire, and get a pot of coffee." . . . . " We lay down 
to sleep. Between eleven and twelve we boiled some- 
thing for dinner, and, having dined, lay down again till 
about four, when the trumpet was sounded^ which gave 
notice to every one to take down their tents, pack up 
their things, and load their camels, in order to proceed 
in their journey." 

Thus we see that more than three thousand years have 
made no alteration in the signal used for decamping. 
The pilgrims to Mecca, and the Israelites of old, both 
moved at the sound of the trumpet. 

The night is the chief time for performing these jour- 
neys, on account of the heat by day. But sometimes 
the mornings are cold before the sun is up, and likewise 
in the day there are often refreshing breezes. 

God, therefore, most mercifully directed the march of 
his people according to the season or the temperature of 
the air ; for sometimes he took up the cloud in the 
morning, and sometimes at night, as best might suit 
their comfort; for " He knew whereof they were made, 
and he remembered that they were but dust." — Pitfs 
Account of the Religion and Manners of the Mahom- 
metans ; Harmer^s Observations, vol. ii., pp. 265-268„ 
272, 271 

ARAB TRAVELLING. 

Genesis xxxii. 

The manner in which the Arabs travel affords a 
striking illustration of the way in which Jacob jour- 
neyed. Mr. Parsons, who travelled in the East a few 
years ago, thus described it : — 

'^ First went the shepherds and goatherds, with the 



ARAB TRAVELLING. 149 

sheep and goats in regular flocks. Then followed the 
camels and asses, with the tents and furniture. Next 
came the old men, and the women with the boys and 
girls on foot. The little children were carried by the 
women, and the elder children carried the lambs and 
kids. Last of all came the masters of the families. 
Between each family there was a space of a hundred 
yards or more ; so that they did not mix or get confused 
with each other. 

GUIDES. 

Numbers x. 31. 
" And he said, Leave us not, I pray thee : forasmuch 
as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilder- 
ness, and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes." 

The importance of a guide in traversing these deserts 
must be evident. Mr. Bruce informs us that a hybeer 
is a guide, from the Arabic word huhhar — to inform, 
instruct, or direct ; because they are used to do this 
office to the caravans travelling thiough the desert in all 
its directions, whether to Egypt and back again, the 
coast of the Red sea, or the countries of Soudan, and 
the western extremities of Africa. They are men of 
great consideration — knowing perfectly the situation 
and properties of all kinds of water to be met with on the 
route, the distance of wells, whether occupied by enemies 
or not, and if so, the way to avoid them with the least 
inconvenience. It is also necessary for them to know 
the places occupied by the simooms, and the seasons of 
their blowing in these parts of the desert ; likewise 
those occupied by moving sands. In addition to this 
they must be acquainted with those places where fuel is 
to be met with — travellers having suffered severely from 
the want of this necessary article. 

The hybeer generally belongs to some powerful tribe 
of Arabs (inhabiting the deserts), whose assistance he 
makes use of to help and protect his caravans ; and hand- 
13* 



150 



GUIDES ■ 



■RUNNING FOOTMEN. 



some rewards are always in his power to distribute on 
such occasions. So Moses might well beg the company 
of Hobab, who was the prince of a clan, that he might 
apply to him from time to time for conductors to those 
small parties he should have occasion to send forth from 
the main body to different places. (See Numb, xiii., 
XX., xxxi.) Now that the Arabs in these deserts are 
everywhere without government, the trade between Abys- 
sinia and Cairo given over, and that between Soudan and 
the metropolis much diminished, the importance of the 
office of hybeer and its consideration is fallen in propor- 
tion, and with these the safe-conduct. — See Bruce^a 
Travels ; Harmer^s Ohservations, vol. ii., pp. 279, 282. 

RUNNING FOOTMEN. 
1 Kings xviii. 46. 
" And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah: and he 
girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance 
of Jezreel." 




MANNER OF RIDING. MESSENGERS. 151 

" The incident of Elijah running before the chariot ol 
Ahab has been continually brought to my recollection 
wherever I have been in India, by the following custom. 
Men of distinction have servants running before, and 
at the least, two always run beside the carriage. Even 
persons on horseback are never without one of these 
runners. It is astonishing how long these men, accus- 
tomed to the business from childhood, can endure. The 
rider never slacks his pace on their account, and they 
keep up during the whole drive." — Rev. H. Malcom. 

MANNER OF RIDING. 

2 Kings iv. 24. 
" Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, 
Drive, and go forward ; slack not thy riding for me, ex- 
f^ept I bid thee." 

It is usual in the East for persons, when riding, to be 
attended by a servant on foot, who drives the animal. 
In Egypt, the husband leads his wife's ass. If she has 
a servant, he goes on one side ; but the ass-driver goads 
on the beast, and when he is to turn, directs his head 
with a pole. — Dr. Pococke's Description of Egypt. — See 
Harmer^s Observations, vol. ii., p. 209. 

MESSENGERS. 

Job ix. 25. 
*' My days are swifter than a post." 

The common pace of travelling in these countries is 
very slow. In the country of Job, a camel would travel 
at little more than two miles an hour : for these animals 
perpetually nibble everything they find proper for food, 
as they pass along. But those who carried messages in 
haste, moved very differently, and their haste appeared 
the greater by contrast. The runners, or posts, as we 
translate the word, sometimes ride dromedaries — a re 



152 



MESSENGERS. 



markably swift sort of camel, which outruns the swiftest 
horses. Even the runners on foot move with great speed 
in Barbary. With what energy, then, might Job say, 
" My days are swifter than a post :" instead of moving 
slowly like a caravan, they have disappeared with the 
swiftness of a messenger mounted on a dromedary. — 
Harmer's Ohservations, vol. ii., pp. 196, 197. 




The Persian messengers travel with a velocity which 
nothing human can equal. It is thus accomplished : 
As many days as are required to go from one place to 
another, so many men and horses are regularly stationed 
along the road, allowing a man and a horse for each 
day. Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor darkness, 
are permitted to obstruct their speed. The first mes- 
senger delivers his business to the second, the second 
to the third, &c. — Herodotus, bk. viii., ch. xcviii. 

The regularity and swiftness of the Roman posts were 



MESSENGERS. 153 

admirable. Gibbon writes : " The advantage of receiv- 
ing the earliest intelligence, and of conveying their or- 
ders with celerity, induced the emperors to establish 
throughout their extensive dominions the regular institu- 
tions of posts. Houses were everywhere erected, at 
the distance only of five or six miles. Each of them wag 
constantly provided with forty horses ; and, by the help 
of these relays, it was easy to travel a hundred miles in 
a day, along the Roman roads." In the time of Theo- 
dosius, Cesarius, a magistrate of high rank, went post 
from Antioch to Constantinople. He began his journey 
at night, was in Cappadocit. [one hundred and sixty-five 
miles from Antioch] the ensuing evening, and arrived at 
Constantinople the sixth day about noon. The v^hole 
distance was seven hundred and twenty-five Roman, or 
six hundred and sixty-five English miles. 

HIGHWAYS— STANDARDS. 

Isaiah Ixii. 10. 
" Go through, go through the gates ; prepare you the 
way of the people ; cast up, cast up the highway ; gather 
out the stones ; lift up a standard for the people." 

In any part where the land is marshy (as about Baby- 
Ion), it is necessary to make highways, or causeijyiys, 
previous to travelling. It is equally desirable to have 
marks for the direction of travellers through the deserts. 
For this purpose, heaps of stones have been piled up in 
remote places : which is probably what is meant by 
" gather out the stones ;" or, as it might be rendered, 
" throw ye up heaps of stones." Thus Irwin, passing 
through the deserts on the eastern side of the Nile, tells 
us that, '' after leaving a certain valley, their road lay 
over level ground. As it would be next to an impossi- 
bility to find the way over these stony flats, where the 
heavy foot of a camel leaves no impression, the different 
bands of Arabs haA^e heaped up stones at unequal dis- 



154 



HIGHWAYS STANDARDS. 



tances, for their direction through this desert, y' e have 
derived great assistance from tliem in this respect." 

By '^ lifting up a standard," nnay be understood almost 
any sign, as the word is very general in its signification. 
Irwin takes notice of its having been customary to light 
up fires on the mountains within view of a town on the 
Red sea, in which he then was, to give notice of the 
approach of the caravans. These signals are of use on 
various accounts, more particularly in order that the 
caravans may be met with assistance. — Harmer's Oh- 
servations^ vol. ii., pp. 283-287. 







iiiirf 



:«■ 







gE^^ 



155 




CHAPTER X. 

Agriculture — Ploughshares — Dove-houses for Manure — Pigeon- 
houses in Egypt — Method of Watering — Gathering and Win- - 
nowing Corn — Threshing Corn — Use of Oxen thereto — Hay 
and Oats — Tares — Mustard-Seed — Gardens — Watering Gar- 
dens — Grafting — Vineyards — Vines — Wine-presses — Apples. 



PLOUGHSHARES. 

Isaiah ii. 4. 
" They shall beat their swords into ploughshares . . ; 
neither shall they learn war any more." 

In Egypt, they plough with two oxen. The plough is 
remarkably light, and has only one handle, which the 
ploughman holds with one hand, and carries a long stick 
in the other. — Richardson's Travels. 

In Persia, it is for the most part drawn by one ox on- 
ly, and not unfrequently even by an ass, although it is 
more ponderous than in Palestine. — See Isaiah xxxii. 
20. — Morier. 



156 PLOUGHSHARES. 

With such an imperfect instrument, the Syrian hus- 
bandman can do little more than scratch the surface of 
the field, or clear away the stones or weeds that en- 
cumber it, and prevent the seed from reaching the soil. 
The ploughshare is a piece of iron, broad, but not 
large, which tips the end of the shaft. So much does it 
resemble the short-sword used by the ancient warriors, 
that it may with very little trouble be converted into 
that deadly weapon. In allusion to this, the prophet 
Joel summons the nations to leave their peaceful em- 
ployments in the cultivated field, and buckle on their 
armor. 

" I obtained," writes an Eastern traveller, " a model 
of a plough at Nazareth. It is differently constructed 
from that used in Britain. It is not moved upon wheels. 
The share, which is small, scarcely grazes the earth ; 
and it has only one handle, or shaft, with a small piece 
of wood across the top, for the husbandman to guide it, 
resembling the head of a staff, or the handle of a spade. 
The man holds this in his right hand, and .carries a long 
stick in his left, with which he goads the oxen. The 
whole machine is made so extremely light that a person 
might with facility carry it in his arms. The share is 
covered with a piece of broad iron, pointed at the end, 
so as it might be converted into a weapon of warfare. 
In all probability it is to this peculiarity that one of the 
prophets refers, where he calls on the nations to relin- 
quish rural occupations, and convert their ploughs into 
instruments of battle." — Rae Wilson^s Travels in the 
Holy Land, vol. i., p. 401. 



DOVE-HOUSES. 

Isaiah Ix. 8. 
" Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves 
to their windows ?" 



DOVE-HOUSES. 157 

2 Kings vi. 25. 
" The fourth part of a cab of dove's dung [was sold J 
for five pieces of silver." 

In the environs of the city of Ispahan, in Persia, V<^! 
many pigeon-houses, erected at a distance from habita, 
tions, for the sole purpose of collecting pigeon's dung foi 
manure. They are large round towers, rather broader 
at the bottom than the top, and crowned by conical 
spiracles, through which the pigeons descend. Their 
interior resembles a honey-comb, pierced with a thou- 
sand holes ; each of which forms a snug retreat for a 
nest. More care appears to have been bestowed upon 
their outside, than upon that of the generality of the 
dwelling-houses (the exteriors of which are little stud- 
ied) ; for they are painted and ornamented. The extra- 
ordinary flights of pigeons which I have seen alight 
upon one of these buildings aflbrd, perhaps, a good 
illustration for the passage in Isaiah : " Who are these 
that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows ?" 
Their great numbers, and the compactness of their mass, 
literally look like a cloud at a distance, and obscure the 
sun in their passage. The dung of pigeons is the dear- 
est manure that the Persians use ; and as they apply it 
almost entirely for the rearing of melons, it is probably 
on that account that the melons of Ispahan are so much 
fineT than those of other cities. The revenue of a pi- 
geon-house is about one hundred tomauns per annum ; 
and the great value of this dung, which rears a fruit 
that is indispensable to the existence of the natives 
during the great heats of summer, will probably throw 
light upon that passage of Scripture, when, in the fam- 
ine of Samaria, the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung 
was sold for five pieces of silver. (2 Kings vi. 25.) — 
Morier's Second Journey through Persia, Sec, pp. 140 
141. 

14 



158 DOVE-HOUSES. 

PIGEON-HOUSES IN EGYPT. 

Psalm Ixviii. 13. 
" Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye 
be. as the wings of a dove, covered with silver, and her 
feathers with yellow gold." 

In many villages (in Egypt), large pigeon-houses, of & 
square form, but with the walls slightly inclining inward, 
or of the form of a sugar-loaf, are constructed upon the 
roofs of the huts, with crude bricks, pottery, and mud. 

The eartbern pots used in the construction of these 
pigeon-houses, are of an oval form, with a wide mouth, 
which is placed outward, and a small hole at the other 
end. Each pair of pigeons occupies a separate pot. — 
Lane's Modern Egyptians, vol. i., p. 24, note. 

METHOD OF WATEPJNG. 

Deuteronomy xi. 10, 11. 
" The land whither thou goest in to possess it, is noi 
as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where 
thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as 
a garden of herbs : but the land whither ye go to pos- 
sess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water 
of the rain of heaven." 

In Egypt there is no rain, and though the river Nile 
waters the country by overflowing its banks, still im- 
mense labor was required to conduct the waters of this 
river to many parts. Large canals had to be dug, bricks, 
&c., to be prepared for lining them ; and for this reason, 
in Exodus i. 14, hard bondage in bricks and mortar is 
joined with other labors of the field. It must, therefore, 
have been glad tidings to the Israelites, that in the coun- 
try whither they were going, no such services would be 
required ; for that Canaan drank of the rain of heaven, 
and nothing but the gardens of herbs would require to 
be watered by art. 



METHOD OF WATERING. 159 

The words " wateredst it with thy foot" are curious, 
but are easily explained. In Egypt, such vegetables as 
require more moisture than the inundation of the Nile 
affords them, are refreshed by water drawn out of the 
river by instruments, and lodged in large cisterns. When 
their melons, sugar-canes, &c., want water, they strike 
out the plugs that are at the bottom of the cisterns ; and 
the water gushing out is conducted to the rills in which 
the plantations are, by the gardener, who is always ready, 
as occasion requires, to stop and divert the torrent, by 
turning the earth against it with his foot, and opening, at 
the same time, a new trench to receive it. — Harmer'^s 
Observations, vol. i,, pp. 93-96. 

METHOD OF GATHERING CORN. 

Psalm cxxix. 6. 
" Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which 
withereth afore it groweth up." — [Be 'plucked up) : pray- 
er-book version. 

The following extract from MaundrelVs Travels is an 
illustration of this verse. He writes : " All that occur- 
red to us new, in this day's travel, was a particular way 
used by the country people in gathering their corn ; it 
being now harvest-time. They plucked it up by handfuls 
from the roots, leaving the most fruitful fields as barren 
as if nothing had ever grown on them. This was their 
practice in all places of the East that I have seen ; and 
the reason is, that they may lose none of their straw, 
which is generally very short, and necessary for the 
sustenance of their cattle ; no hay here being made. I 
mention this, because it seems to give light to that ex- 
pression of the Psalmist, ' which withereth before it be 
plucked up ;' where there seems to be a manifest allu- 
sion to this custom. There is, indeed, mention of a 
mower in the next verse ; but then it is such a mower 
as fills not his hands ; which confirms, rather than 



160 



METHOD OF GATHERING CORN. 



weakens the preceding interpretation." — MaundrelVs 
Tourney from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 144. 

WINNOWING CORN. 

Ruth iii. 2. 
" Behold, he winnoweth barley to-night in the thresh- 
ing-floor." 

The manner of winnowing corn in warm climates, is 
to throw it up in the air when the wind is brisk. The 
grain then falls, and the wind carries away the husk. 




In Palestine, as in other countries bordering on the sea, 
a breeze usually springs up from the sea every evening ; 
and this explains why barley should be winnowed at 
night. — Calmet. 

It is not many years since this was the usual method 



THRESHING CORN. 161 

of winnowing in the west of England, and is probably 
not yet entirely laid aside. 

THRESHING CORN. 

Proverbs xx. 26. 
" A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the 
wheel over them." 

In Egypt, the use of the ilail is unknown. To sepa- 
rate the grain from the straw, the inhabitants prepare, 
with a mixture of earth, &c., spacious floors, well beat, 
and very clean. The rice is spread thereon, in thick 
layers. They have then a sort of cart, formed of two 
pieces of wood joined together by two cross-pieces. It 
is almost in the shape of sledges which serve for the 
conveyance of burdens in the streets of our cities. Be- 
tween the longer sides of this sledge are fixed, trans- 
versely, three rows of small wheels, made of solid iron,^ 
and narrowed off toward their circumference. On the 
forepart is a wide and high seat, upon which a man sits, 
driving two oxen harnessed to the machine. The whole 
moves on slowly, and always in a circular direction, 
over every part of the heap of rice, until there remains 
no more grain in the straw. When it is thus beat, it is 
spread in the air to be dried. Several men walk abreast, 
to turn it over, each of whom, with his foot, makes a 
furrow in the layer of grain ; so that in a few moments 
the whole mass is moved, and that part which was un- 
derneath is again exposed to the air. — Sonnini : Har- 
jmr's Observations^ vol. iv., pp. 134, 135. 

Thus the wheel is the instrument of crushing the 
grain, and causing it to be separated. So does a wise 
king bring the power of the law upon the wicked, 
crushes their conspiracies, defeats their projects, and 
gains an entire victory over their secret and malicious 
designs 

14* 



162 



OXEN. 



OXEN. 

Deuteronomy xxv. 4. 
" Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out 
the corn." 

The following extract from the journal of .the Rev. 
M. Hill bears upon this passage, which is quoted by St. 
Paul in his first epistle to the Corinthians : 

" November 27, 1826. — Left Berhampore, and arrived 
at Douita. The country on every side exhibited the 
pleasing scenes of industry. Some persons were pre- 
paring the ground by digging, and others by ploughing 




with oxen, for a future crop. Others were cutting their 
harvest of rice, and others treading out their grain^ 
after the manner described in Scripture. At one place 



OXEN. 163 

I noticed two sets of oxen, four abreast, the one set fol- 
lowing the other in a circle, and which as they trod out 
<lie grain, continued eating. I inquired of the men why 
they permitted the oxen to eat ? They replied, ' It is 
contrary to our shasters (holy books) to muzzle iJie ox 
that treadeth out the corn!' " 

In Greece, horses are employed to tread out the corn, 
as was sometimes the case in Judea (Isaiah xxviii. 28) ; 
and with regard to them, the law is observed which 
Moses gave to the Jews concerning oxen. (Deut. xxv. 
41.) Hence they find means, in the progress of their 
labor, to partake pretty largely both of the straw and of 
the grain. — Hartley'' s Researches, p. 366. 

HAY AND OATS NOT USED IN THE EAST. 

1 Kings iv, 28. 

(They brought) "barley also and straw for the horses. 

Neither hay nor oats are known to the Turks ; nor 
has any nation in the East ever used them for their 
horses. — WalpoWs MSS. Journal ; Note, darkens 
Travels, vol. iii., p. 234. 

TARES. 

Matthew xiii. 25. 

" His enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat." 
See the whole parable. 

" The following incident,'' observes Mr. Wilson, 
" tends, I think, to explain a parable of our Lord in 
Matt, xiii.: — 

" The wife of religious ministers is styled in Greece 
Mrs. Priestess. On one occasion I observed Mrs. 
Priestess and her children, during my stay in their 
house, appear very much indisposed, and inquired the 
reason. ' Sir/ said she, ' we have eaten some zizania! 
This is the word translated tares in the Gospel of St. 



164 TARES. 

Matthew. They had unwittingly eaten this deleterious 
grain as genuine corn, and I observed that headache and 
sickness were the result." 

This zizania is considered to be the plant called darnel^ 
well known to the people of Aleppo. It grows among 
corn : the reapers do not separate the plant, but, after 
threshing, they reject the seeds by means of a fan or 
seive. So in the parable the plant is described as grow- 
ing among corn : the reapers do not separate it, — both 
grow together until the harvest. According to Johnson, 
darnel is the first of hurtful weeds. Its leaves resemble 
those of wheat or barley, but spring up rougher. The 
grains haAdng scarcely any husk, are easily scattered 
among the corn where it grows. — Rev. S. S, Wihon^s 
Travels. 

MUSTARD. 

Matthew xiii. 31, 32. 
" The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mus- 
tard-seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field : 
which indeed is the least of all seeds : but when it is 
grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a 
tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the 
branches thereof." 

A TRAVELLER* in the East informs us that the 
mustard plant thrives so mightily in Chili, that it is as 
big as a man's arm, and so high and thick that it looks 
like a tree. " I have travelled many leagues," he writes, 
" through groves which were taller than horse and man, 
and the birds build their nests in them, as the Gospel 
mentions. 

GARDENS. 
Isaiah Iviii. II. 
'^ Thou shalt be like a watered garden." 

" The town of Tayf," wnres an Eastern traveller, "is 
* Ovalle, 



GARDENS. 165 

celebrated all over Arabia for its beautiful gardens. 
They are watered hy wells and rivulets, which descend 
from the mountains. Numerous fruit-trees are found 
in them, grapes of a very large size and exquisite fla- 
vor, and abundance of roses. The gardens of Koba 
are equally beautiful. They spread over a space of four 
or five miles in circuit, and form a most fertile and agree- 
able spot. All kinds of fruit-trees (with the exception 
of apple and pear, neither of \vhich, I believe, grow in 
Arabia) are seen in the gardens, which are all enclosed 
by walls, and watered hy numerous wells. Lemon and 
orange-trees, pomegranates, vines, peach, apricot, fig- 
trees, and palm-trees, form thick groves ; and many sick 
persons are carried there to enjoy the shade." 

Of the garden of Roda, Lord Lindsay says, " It is 
indeed a lovely spot. One walk, with borders of myrtle, 
particularly charmed me, leading between rows of 
orange-trees in full bearing to a fountain surrounded by 
cypress-trees. Rosemary edges the walk like box in 
England, and roses bloom in profusion, and gorgeous 
butterflies were flitting about in every direction. Little 
canals for irrigatio7i are conducted all over the garden, 
some of them of hewn stone, others merely dug in the 
earth ; and the water is transferred from one into the 
other by opening or damming it with the foot, as in 
Moses's time," — See Lord Lindsay'' s Letters from the 
Holy Land, <^c.' vol. i., p. b^. 

WATERING GARDENS. 

EccLEsiASTES xii. 6. 
" Or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the 
wheel broken at the cistern." 

At Smyrna, and in many other places, water is pro- 
cured for irrigating gardens in the following manner, 
A large wheel is fixed over the mouth of the well in a 
vertical position. A number of pitchers are attached to 
the wheel, in such a manner that, by means of its revo 



166 WATERING GARDEISlJi 

lution, which is effected by a horse, they are continually 
descending and filling, and ascending and discharging 
themselves. — Hartleifs Researches in Greece^ (^c, pp. 
213, 214. 

GRAFTING. 

Romans xi. 17,24. 
" And if some of the branches be broken off, and 
thou, being a wild olive-tree, wert graffed in among 
them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of 
the olive-tree If thou wert cut out of the olive- 
tree, which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary 
to nature into a good olive-tree." 

John xv. 2. 
" Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh 
away : and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth 
it, that it may bring forth more fruit." 

" In the Morea," writes Mr. Hartley, in his Re- 
searches, " I had my attention directed to the practice 
of grafting the olive-trees, to which St. Paul alludes. 
My friend showed me a few wild olives ; but by far the 
greater number are such as have been grafted. He 
informs me that it is the universal practice in Greece to 
graft from a good tree upon the wild olive. I also noticed 
the manner in which the vine is cut or purged. Only 
two or three of the principal sprouts are permitted to 
grow up from the root ; the rest are cut off ; and this 
practip^e is often. called by the Greeks cleaning.^'' It may 
be added that he word translated severity, in Romans 
xi. 22, properly denotes excision, cutting off, as the gar- 
dener cuts off, with a pruning-knife, dead boughs or lux- 
uriant stems. — Hartleifs Researches, <^c., p. 314. 

VINEYARDS. 
Psalm Ixxx. 13. 
" The bear out of the wood doth waste it, and the 
wild beast of the field doth devour it." 



VINEYARDS. 

B 



167 



*' My friend, the Rev. Mr. Leeves, was proceeding in 
the dusk of the evening from Constantinople to Therapia. 
Passing through a vineyard, he observed an animal of 
large size rushing from among the vines, crossing the 
road, and taking to flight with great precipitation. His 
Greek companion, who was riding first, exclaimed, 'Wild 
boar ! wild boar !' and it really proved a wild boar, who 
was retreating from the vineyards to the woods. ' What 
has the wild boar to do in the vineyard V inquired Mr. 
Leeves. ' Oh,' said the Greek, ' 'tis the custom of the 
wild boars to frequent the vineyards, and to devour the 
grapes.' — -And it is astonishing what havoc a wild boar 
is capable of making. What with eating, and what with 
trampling under foot, he will destroy an immense quan- 
tity of grapes." — Rev. J. Hartley^ s Researches in Greece 
(imi the Levant, p. 212, 




^v^,,,j»^«^ 



168 VINES. 

VINES. 

Genesis xlix. 22. 
" Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by 
a well ; whose branches run over the wall." 

The vineyards in Persia are generally enclosed by 
high walls. The Persian vine-dressers do all in their 
power to make the vine run up the wall, and curl over 
on the other side, which they do by tying stones to the 
extremity of the tendril. May not this illustrate that 
beautiful image used in Genesis Ixix. 22. " Joseph is 
a fruitful bough," &c. The vine, particularly in Turkey 
and Greece, is frequently made to entwine on trellises, 
around a loell^ where in the heat of the day, whole fam- 
ilies collect themselves, and sit under the shade. — Mo- 
Tier's Second Journey through Persia^ SfC, p. 232, 

Psalms cxxviii. 3. 
" Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of 
thy house : thy children like olive-plants round about thy 
table." 

" It is very common," says Dr.' Russell, ^' to cover 
the stairs leading to the upper apartments of the harem 
wich the vines. And they have often a lattice-work of 
wood raised against the dead walls (see prayer-book 
version of the psalm), for a vine or other shrub to crawl 
upon. 

WINE-PRESSES. 
Matthew xxi. 3. 
" There was a certain householder, which planted a 
vineyard, and digged a wine-press in it." 

The wine-presses in Persia are formed by making 
(digging) hollow places in the ground, lined with mason's 
woxk.-— Harmer''s Ohservations, vol. ii., p. 152. 



WINE-PRESSES. 169 

While traveling in the Morea, Mr. Hartley observes, 
'^ wine-presses are still to be met with in the vineyards/' 
— Hartley's Researches, <^c., p. 360. 

CITRON TREE— APPLES. 

Canticles ii. 3, 5. 
" As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so 
IS my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his 
shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to 
my taste. . . . Stay me with flagons, comfort me with 
apples,'''^ 

Canticles vii. 8. 
" The smell of thy nose like apples." 

Proverbs xxv. 11. 
" A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures 
[or baskets] of silver." 

The fruit which we call apples, are in Judea both 
rare and of a very poor kind. But the tree now called 
in the East the citron exactly agrees with the descrip- 
tion given in Scripture of that which has been rendered 
in our translation " apple-tree J^ 

Citron-trees are very noble, being large, and their 
leaves very beautiful, always continuing upon the tree, 
of an exquisite smell, and affording a most delightful 
shade, " I sat down under his shadow with great delight." 
(Canticles ii. 3.) The orange-tree is so like the citron 
that a common observer can hardly distinguish between 
them when they are not in fruit — and even the color of 
the latter is the same in both, viz., that of gold. Thus 
a traveller, describing the palace of a prince, on the 
coast of Syria, prefers the orange-ga,rden to everything 
else, the walks being shaded with orange-trees of alarge 
spreading kind, and gilded with fruit. 

The fragrancy of the citron-fruit is admirable, andtheii 
peel is as reviving as their juice is refreshing. We are 

'15 



170 



CITRON TREE APPLES. 



told of an Arabian who was in a great measure broiigh 
to himself, when overcome by wine, with the help of 
citrons and coffee. " His fruit was sweet to my taste. 
Stay me with flagons [with wine, that is, that was given 
to those who were faint], comfort me with citrons," 
which are so refreshinsf.* The first-fruits were carried 
to the Temple at Jerusalem in silver baskets ; and Solo- 
mon represents a word fitly spoken as being beautiful as 
golden citrons shining through the net- work of silver 
baskets. 

* Harmer's Observations, vol. ii., pp. 157-161. 




171 



CHAPTER XI. 



Markets — Streets for Trades — Taskmasters — Method of hiring 
Laborers — Agreenients — Weighing Money — Tax-gatherers — 
Courts of Jiistice — ^Laws — Curious Mode of Decision. 



MARKETS. 

2 Kings vii. 1. 

" Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord ; 

Thus saith the Lord, To-morrow about this time shall 

a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two 

measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria." 

Mr. MoRiER observes : " In our rides we usually went 
out of the town [Teheran, in Persia], at the gate lead- 
ing to the village of Shah Abdul Azum, where a market 
was held every morning, particularly of horses, mules, 
asses, and camels. At about sunrise, the owners of the 
animals assemble, and exhibit them for sale. But be- 
sides, here were sellers of all sorts of goods, in tempo- 
rary shops and tents ; and this, perhaps, will explain the 
custom alluded to in 2 Kings vii., of the sale of barley 
and flour in the gate of Samaria." — Morier's Second Jour- 
ney through Persia, <^c., p. 190. 

STREETS APPROPRIATED TO PARTICULAR TRADES 
IN THE EAST. 

Jeremiah xxxvii. 21. 
" Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they 
should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, 
and that they should give him daily a piece of bread ou^ 
of the bakers^ street. ^^ 



172 



STREETS FOR RADES. 



The great thoroughfare streets of Cairo generally 
have a row of shops along each side ; commonly a por- 
tion of a street, or a whole street, contains chiefly, or 
solely, shops appropriated to one particular trade, and is 




called the " markef^ of that trade. Thus a part of ^)\v 
principal streets of the city is called the market of the 
sellers of copper wares ; another part is called the mar- 
ket of the jewellers, &c. — Lane's Modern Egyptians. 

TASKMASTERS. 

Exodus v. 
Mr. Morier thus describes the building of a fort in 



TASKMASTERS. 173 

Persia: " We found about one hundred peasants at work 
upon it. Tlie walls are made with sun-burnt bricks, with 
a previous foundation of common stone, and the arch- 
ways of the gates of bricks baked in a kiln. The bricks 
baked in the sun are composed of earth dug from pits in 
the vicinity, which is mixed up with straw, and then, 
from the form in which they have been cast, are ar- 
ranged on a flat spot in rows, where the sun hardens 
them. This style of building is called the ' kah-gil,' or 
straw and clay. The peasants who were at work had been, 
as usual, collected by force, and were superintended by 
several of the king's ofjicers, who, with hard words, and 
sometimes harder blows, hastened them in their opera- 
tions. Their fate resembled that of the Israelites, who 
no doubt were employed in the same manner in build- 
ings for Pharaoh, and with the same sort of materials. 
Their bricks were mixed up with straw ; they had to 
make a certain quantity daily ; and their taskmasters 
treated them cruelly if their task was not accomplished. 
The complaints which they made were natural, and 
resembled the language used frequently on similar occa- 
sions by the oppressed in Persia. ' The.re is no straw 
given unto thy servants, and they say to us. Make brick; 
and, behold, thy servants are beaten ; but the fault is in 
thine own people.' Part of the laborers were occupied 
in treading mortar, part in bringing clay, and several 
were employed at the brick-kilns, which had been erected 
in the immediate vicinity of the building, for baking the 
bricks." — Morier's Second Journey through Persia, Sfc.j 
pp. 199, 200. 

ExoDQS i. 8-14; v. 13, l4. 
** Now there arose up a new king over Eg}^pt, which 
knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people. Behold, 
the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier 
than we : Come on, let us deal wisely with them .... 
Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict 

them with their burdens And the Egyptians 

15* 



174 TASKMASTERS. 

made the children of Israel to serve with rigor : and 
they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mor- 
tar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the 
field. n 

" And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil 
your works, your daily tasks . . And the officers of the 
children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set 
over them, were beaten." 

The present pacha (or governor) of Egypt is a man 
of talent, power, and wisdom, and has done much to 
improve his country. At the same time he exercises 
great tyranny in the way in which he compels the ser- 
vices of his people. " We cannot be insensible," ob- 
serves a recent traveller in Egypt, " to the cries of suf- 
fering raised by the children, women, and old blmd men 
and cripples, who are condemned under the terrors of 
the club, to the severest labor, without being implicated 
in any crime, save that of having been born in this land 
of oppression !" 

The following circumstance is related by an eye- 
witness, and is a lively comment upon the narrative of 
the sacred historian : — 

" Having ridden out early one morning, in the neigh- 
borhood of Alexandria," this gentleman writes, " we 
suddenly heard the sounds of music from without, and 
perceived it was the pacha himself, with his guard, who 
had just arrived from Cairo. He was on foot, and 
stood on the lofty bank of a new canal he was making, 
earnestly observing the innumerable workmen beneath. 
The bed of the canal below presented a novel specta- 
cle, being filled with vast numbers of Arabs of various 
colors, toiling in the intense heat of the day, while 
their Egyptian taskmasters, with whips in their hands, 
watched the progress of their labor. It was a just and 
lively representation of the children of Israel, forced 
to toil by their oppressive masters of old. The wages 
allowed these unfortunate people, who had been obliged 



TASKMASTERS. 175 

to quit their homes and families in Upper Egypt, to toil 
about this work, were only a penny a day and a ration 
of bread. Yet such is the buoyancy of spirits of the 
Arabs, that they go through their heavy toil with gayety 
and cheerfulness." — Carrie's Eastern Letters, pp. 71, 72 

MODE OF HIRING LABORERS. 

Matthew xx. 3, 6, 7. 
" He went out about the third hour, and saw others 
[laborers] standing idle in the market-place ...... 

And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found 
others standing idle, and saith unto them. Why stand 
ye here ail the day idle 1 They say unto him. Because 
no man hath hired us." — (See whole parable.) 

The most conspicuous building in Hamadam (in Per- 
sia), is a large mosque, now falling into decay, and be- 
fore it a square, which serves as a market-place. Here 



176 MODE OF HIRING LABORERS. 

we observed, every moriiing before the sun rose, that a 
numerous body of peasants were collected, with spades 
in their hands, waiting, as they informed us, to be hired 
for the day to work in the surrounding fields. This 
custom, which 1 have never seen in any other part of 
Asia, forcibly struck us as a most happy illustration of 
our Savior's parable of the laborers in the vineyard, in 
the twentieth chapter of Matthew ; particularly when 
passing by the same place late in the day, we still found 
'' others standing idle," and remembered his words, 
" Why stand ye here all the day idle ?" as most appli- 
cable to their situation ; for, in putting the very same 
question to them, they answered us, " Because no man 
hath hired us." — Morier'^s Second Journey through Per- 
sia, d^c, p. 265. 



MANNER OF EXPRESSING CONSENT AND AGREE 
MENT IN THE EAST. 

Matthew vi. 3. 
" When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know 
what thy right hand doeth." 

Proverbs vi. 13. 
" He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his 
feet, he teacheth with his fingers." 

Mr. Jowett thus describes a common Eastern cus- 
tom, on the occasion of his parting from a Samaritan 
priest : 

" The manner," writes this gentleman, " in which the 
priest desired me, on parting, to express our mutual 
gopdwill, was by an action than which there is not one 
more common in all the Levant. He put the forefinger 
of his right hand parallel to that of his left, and then 
rapidly rubbed them together, while I was expected to 
do the same, repeating the words ' Right, right,' or, in 
common acceptation, * Together, together.' " 



MANNER OF EXPRESSING AGREEMENT. 177 

It is in this manner that persons express their consent, 
on all occasions, on concluding a bargain, on engaging to 
bear one another company, and on every liind of friendly 
agreement, or good understanding. May not this serve 
to explain the phrase in Matthew vi. 3, '' Let not thy left 
hand know what thy right hand doeth :" that is, let not 
thy heart consent to its own good thoughts with a sinful 
self-applause. So much is said in the Old Testament, 
of speaking v/ith the eyes, hands, and even feet, that it 
is scarcely understood by Englishmen. They should 
see the expressive and innumerable gesticulations of 
foreigners, when they converse. Many a question is 
answered, and many a significant remark conveyed, by 
even children, who learn this language much sooner 
than their mother-tongue. Perhaps the expression of 
Solomon, that the wicked man speaketh with his feet, 
may appear more natural when it is considered that the 
mode of sitting on the ground in the East brings the 
feet into view, nearly in the same direct line as the 
hands ; the whole body crouching down together, and 
the hands, in fact, often resting upon the het—Jowetfs 
Christian Researches in Syria, ^c, pp. 283, 284. 

Genesis xxiii. 10, 11. — (See whole chapter.) 
"And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham, . . . 
oaying. Nay, my lord, hear me : the field give I thee, 
and the cave that is therein I give it thee." 

The peasants in Egypt will often say, when a person 
asks the price of anything which they have for sale, 
" Receive it as a present," as Ephron did to Abraham, 
when the latter expressed his wish to purchase the field 
and cave of Machpelah. This answer having become a 
common form of speech, they know that advantage Vv'ill 
not b*^ takea of it ; and when desired again to name the 
pr? .^^ th'^y wii-1 do so. — Lane\s Modern Egyptians 



178 



WEIGHING MONEY. 



WEIGHING MONEY. 

Genesis xxiii. 16. 
" And Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which 
he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four 
hundred shekels of silver, current money with the mer- 
chant." 

Ezra viii. 25. 
" And weighed unto them the silver, and the gold." 

" BuRMAH has no coinage. Silver and lead pass in 
fragments of all sizes ; and the amount of every trans- 




action is regularly weighed out as was done by the an- 
cients." — Rev. H. Mahom^s Travels, 



TAX-GATHERERS. 179 



TAX-GATHERERS. 

Matthew ix. 9. 
" And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a 
man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom ; 
and he saith unto him. Follow me. And he arose and 
followed him." 

Any person may see this ancient custom exemplified 
to this day, at the gate of Smyrna. The collector of 
customs sits there in the house allotted him, and re- 
ceives the money which is due from various persons 
and commodities entering into the city. The exactions, 
and rude behavior of these men are just in character 
with the conduct of the publicans mentioYied in the New 
Testament. — Hartley^ s Researches, pp. 216, 217. 

In Persia, Mr. Morier met with "a station of rahdars, 
or toll-gatherers, appointed to levy a toll upon caravans 
of merchants, and who, in general, exercise their office 
with so much brutality and extortion, as to be execrated 
by all travellers. The police of the highways is confi- 
ded to them, and whenever any goods are stolen, they 
are meant to be the instruments of restitution ; but, when 
they are put to the test, are found to be inefficient : none 
but a man in power can hope to recover what he has 
once lost. They afford but little protection to the road, 
their stations being placed at too wide intervals to be 
able to communicate quickly ; but they generally are 
perfectly acquainted with the state of the country, and 
are probably leagured with the thieves themselves, and 
can thus, if they choose, discover their haunts. Their 
insolence to travellers is unparalleled : the collections of 
the toll are farmed, consequently extortion ensues ; and 
as most of the rahdars receive no other emolument than 
what they can exact over and above the prescribed dues 
from the traveller, their insolence is accounted for, and 
a cause sufficiently powerful is given for their insolence 



180 TAX-GATHERERS. 

on the one hand, and the detestation in which they are 
held on the other. ' Bajgah' means ' the place of trib- 
ute.' It may also be rendered ' the receipt of custom :' 
ai^d perhaps it was from a place like this that our Sav- 
ior called Matthew to follow him ; because Matthew 
appears, from the third verse of the tenth chapter, to 
have been a publican ; and publicans, who, in the elev- 
enth verse of the ninth chapter, are classed with sin- 
ners, appear to have been held in the same odium as 
are the rahdars of Persia. It also explains why Mat- 
thew, who was seated at the receipt of custom, is after- 
ward called a publican ; and shows that, in the choice 
of his disciples, our Savior took them not only from 
the poorest and humblest class of men, but also from 
those who, from their particular situation in life, were 
hated by all ranks. Matthew, as a toll-gatherer, must, 
like the rahdars, have been a man known to all ranks 
of people, and detested on account of his profession. 
When he was seen having ' power against unclean spir- 
its,' with power to ' heal all manner of sickness and 
disease,' and following one like our Savior, his liie, 
when compared with what he formerly was, must have 
been a constant miracle. 

" The parable of the Pharisee and publican (Luke 
xviii. 10-14) will be more clearly understood by what 
has been mentioned. Our Savior, in bringing these 
two characters together, appears to have chosen them 
as making the strongest contrast between what, in the 
public estimation, were the extremes of excellence and 
villany. The sect of the Pharisees was the most pow- 
erful among the Jews ; and, from what has been said 
of the rahdars, it may perhaps be explained why the 
Pharisee should make 'extortioners' and the 'unjust' 
almost synonymous terms with 'publicans ;' because we 
have seen that, from the peculiar office of the rahdar, 
he is almost an extortioner by profession." — Morier's 
Second Journey through Persia, d^c, pp. 69-7 L 



181 



COURTS 05^ JUSTICE. 

Luke xvi. 5-8. 
" So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto 
him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto 
my lord ? And he said, A hundred measures of oil. 
And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down 
quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another. And 
how much owest thou ? And he said, A hundred 
measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy 
bill, and write fourscore." 




Our Lord here probably alluded to a custom which 
still prevails in the Asiatic countries, as is evident from 
the following account taken from Captain Hadly's Hin- 
doostan Dialogues. A person thus addresses the captain. 
* Your sirkar's deputy, while his master was gone to 
Calcutta, established a court of justice ; having searched 

16 



182 COUETS OF JUSTICE. 

for a good many debtors and their creditors, he learned 
the account of their bonds. He then made an agree- 
ment with them to get the bonds out of the bondsmen's 
hands for half the debt, if they would give him one 
fourth. Thus every debtor for one hundred rupees, 
having given fifty to the creditor, and twenty-five to this 
knave, got his bond for seventy-five rupees. Having 
seized and flogged one hundred and twenty-five bond- 
holders, he has in this manner determined their loans, 
and he has done this business in your name." — Captain 
Hadly^s Hindoostan Dialogues. 



EASTERN LAWS. 

Exodus xxi. 24. 
" Eye for eye, tooth for tooth." See Matt. v. 38. 

Mr. L., an English merchant, had some years ago an 
affray with some Moors, who insulted him as he was one 
day returning from shooting. In the course of the 
scuffle, which originated in Mr. L.'s dog attacking a 
donkey belonging to the party, the merchant accidentally 
knocked out two teeth from an old woman, who hap- 
pened to be in the way. Complaint was immediately 
made to the governor of Mogadore, who was obliged to 
*take the gentleman into custody, to protect him from 
the anger of the mob. He was eventually sent to the 
sultan who was then on the throne of Morocco, a prince 
unusually mild for a sovereign of Morocco. Such is the 
strictures with which the law on this head is observed, 
^that he was sentenced to have two of his teeth taken 
out, which was accordingly done. As a mark of especial 
favor, he was allowed to choose which two teeth he 
xwould have condemned. — See Notes to Brookes^ 
Sketches in Spain and Morocco, 



183 



CURIOUS MODE OF DECISION. 

1 Kings iii. 24-27. 

" And the king said, Bring me a sword. . . . Divide 

the living child in two, and give half to the one, and 

half to the other. Then spake the women whose the 

living child was, .... and she said, O my lord, give 

her the living child, and in nowise slay it Then 

the king answered and said, Give her the living child, 
and in nowise slay it : she is the mother thereof." 

Such a mode of decision as this which Solomon 
adopted was not unknown in the East. 

Ariophanes, king of Thrace, being appointed to arbi- 
trate between three young men, each claiming to be the 
son of the Cimmerians, discovered the real son by 
desiring each to shoot an arrow into the dead body of 
him they called their father. Two of the claimants 
obeyed without hesitation, but the third refused ; upor, 
which the arbitrator judged him to be the genuine prince 
• — Fisher's Historic Illustrations of the Bible, 




]54 




CHAPTER XII. 



Flocks and Herds — Sheep and Shepherds — Sheep-folds. 
FLOCKS AND HERDS. 

Genesis xiii. 
" And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, 
and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. 
And Abram was very rich in cattle, .... and Lot also 
.... had flocks, and herds, and tents. And the land 
was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together : 

for their substance was great And there was a 

strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle, and the 

herdmen of Lot's cattle And Lot lifted up his 

eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well 



FLOCKS AND HERDS. 185 

watered everywhere Then Lot chose him all the 

plain of Jordan, .... and pitched his tent toward Sod- 
om Then Abram removed his tent, and came and 

dwelt in the plain of Mamre." 

Genesis xxxii. 7. 
" And he [Jacob] divided the people that was with 
him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two 
bands. 

Genesis xxxvii. 12-17. 

" And his brethren went to feed their fathers flock in 
Shecliem. And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy 
brethren feed the flock in Shechem ? . . . . Go, I pray 
thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well 

with the flocks So he sent him out of the vale 

of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a certain 
man .... asked him, saying. What seekest thou ? 
And he said, I seek my brethren : tell me, I pray thee, 
where they feed their flocks. And the man said. They 
are departed hence ; for I heard them say. Let us go to 
Dothan." 

The manner of life which is here described is still 
followed in the East. " This day," writes a traveller, 
" we passed two or three villages, and had not advanced 
far, when we beheld the plain before us covered with 
an immense multitude of Arabs, with their flocks and 
camels. They had come from plains far distant — 
from the extensive tracts which extend toward Baby^ 
Ion and Bagdad, the pastures being scanty, or else par- 
tially exhausted this season. They had journeyed hither 
wuth all their flocks and herds, for the sake of the supe- 
rior pasturage the Syrian plains aflbrd. Their tents 
were spread over an immense space of ground before 
us, those of the sheikh being distinguished by their su- 
perior size. Groups of camels were standing in some 
parts, and groups of their masters beside them, and 
herds of cattle, and goats, and horses were dispersed 
16* 



186 FLOCKS AND HERDS. 

over all the plain, mingled with parties of Arabs, wno 
watched and attended them. 

" We came in sight of an Arab camp pitched near a 
rivulet of water, in the midst of the plain, and flocks of 
cattle were feeding on the rich pasture. The large tent 
of the sheikh was conspicuous in the midst, and we 
resolved to trust to their hospitality. Having passed the 
line of tents, we stopped at the door of the chief, and 
alighting from our horses, entered. The Arabs gave us 
a kind and friendly reception. We sat down on the 
floor, and in about half an hour a repast was brought oi 
boiled rice, cakes of bread, and fresh butter. These 
people are altogether a different race from the Bedouins 
of the Desert : they are rather more civilized and peace- 
able, having settled with their flocks and herds in one of 
the rich and wild plains of Syria, they decamp and 
w^ander to another in search of fresh pasture. Their 
encampments and journeyings probably present a vivid 
picture of those of the patriarchs, who, with their flocks 
and herdsmen, and camels, v/ent on their journeys until 
they pitched their tents in a place that had water, and 
was rich in pasture." — See Appendix to Camels Letters 
and the Letters, p, 369. 

SHEEP jAJ^D SHEPHERDS. 

John x. 3-5, 

*' The sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own 
sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 

" And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth 
before them, and the sheep follow him : for they know 
his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will 
flee from him ; for they know not the voice of strangers." 



The Rev. John Hartley, who has travelled as a mis- 
sionary in Greece, records in his Journal the following 
interesting illustration of our Savior's words : " Hav- 
ing had my attention directed last night to the words in 



SHEEr' AND SHEPHERDS. 187 

n n 

John X. 3, I asked my man if it was usual in Greece to 
give names to sheep. He informed me that it was, and 
that the sheep obeyed the shepherd when he called them 
by their names. This morning I had an opportunity of 
verifying the truth of this remark. Passing by a flock 
of sheep, I asked the shepherd the same question v/hich 
I put to my servant, and he gave me the same answer. 
I then bade him to call one of his sheep. He did so ; 
and it instantly left its pasturage and its companions, and 
ran up to the hand of the shepherd, with signs of pleas- 
ure, and vvith a prompt obedience, which I had never 
before observed in any other animal. The shepherd 
told me that many of his sheep are still wild : (hat they 
had not yet learned their names, but that by teaching 
they would all learn them. The others, wliich knew 
their names, he called tame." 




In Eastern countries the sheep are never driven, as 
with us, but led by the shepherd ; and it is literally true 



188 SHEEP AND SHEPHERDS. 

of them, that none but their accustomed leader will they 
follow. " A stranger will they not follow ; for they 
know not the voice of strangers." A young Persian oi 
rank proved this. He learned the names of a particulai 
flock of sheep, and then, putting on the dress of their 
shepherd, went and called them ; but not one of them 
would follow him, so well could they distinguish between 
his (the stranger's) voice, and that of their own shep- 
herd. — Rev. J. Hartley'' s Researches in Greece and the 
Levant, pp. 307, 308. 

Jeremiah xxxiii. 13. 

*' In the cities of the mountains , . shall the 

flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth 
them." 

In Greece, the shepherds count their flocks, by ad- 
mitting them one by one into a pen. This is the custom 
to which Jeremiah alludes (xxxiii. 13) Ibrahim Pacha 
counted the Greeks who surrendered to him at Navarino, 
in the same manner. — Hartley's Researches, p. 364. 

Matthew^ XXV. 32. 
" He shall separate them one from another, as a 
shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." 

" So entirely in these hot climates (viz., Burmah, 
Pegu, (fee), do sheep lose their distinctive features, that, 
in seeing them mixed with goats, I never could tell them 
apart. They are never white, as with us, and their 
wool degenerates into hair. May not this illustrate, ' He 
shall separate them one from the other, as a shepherd 
divideth the sheep from the goats' ? Though an unac- 
customed eye could not discern the difference, the shep- 
herd knows each perfectly. 

" So, though in this world hypocrites mingle with 
God's people, and resemble them, the ' Great Shepherd' 
instantly detects them, and at the appointed time will 



SHEPHERDS. 189 

unerringly divide them." — Rev. H. Maicom^s Travels in 
Southeastern Asia. 

SHEPHERDS. 

1 Corinthians, ix. 7. 
" Who feedeth my flock, and eateth not of the milk 
of the flock ?" 

The wages of the shepherds in the East do not con- 
sist of ready money, but in a part of the milk of the 
flocks which they tend. The shepherds in Modern 
Greece are poor Albanians, who feed the cattle, and live 
in huts built of rushes ; they have a tenth part of the 
milk and of the lambs, v/hich is their whole wages. 
The cattle belong to the Turks. — Weekly Visiter, 

CHIEF SHEPHERD. 

1 Peter v. 2, 4. 
" Feed the flock of God which is among you ; . . and 
when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive 
a crown of glory that fadeth not away." 

In Spain, where many Eastern customs are preserved 
from the Moors, they have, to this day, over each flock 
of sheep, a chief shepherd. " Ten thousand compose 
a flock, which is divided into ten tribes. One man has 
the a^nduct of all. He must be the owner of four or 
five hundred sheep ; strong, active, vigilant, intelligent 
in pasture, in the weather, and in the diseases of the 
sheep. He has absolute dominion over fifty shepherds 
and fifty dogs, five of each to a tribe. He chooses them, 
he chastises them, or discharges them at will. He is 
the 'prcBpositas, or chief shepherd of the whole flock." 

How beautiful, after reading this, appears the title 
given by the Apostle to Jesus Christ — the Chief Shep- 
herd of the Church of God. He is the owner of many 
sheep, whom he has purchased with his own blood — he 



190 ' CHIEF SHEPHERD. 

has all power in heaven and in earth — his activity never 
vv^earies — his watchful eye never slumbers nor sleeps — 
the spirit of wisdom and understanding rests upon him 
without measure — and he is the Great Physician, who 
alone can heal. He is the Head over all things to his 
church, and it is he who alone chooses, guides, and di- 
rects those his under-shepherds, to whom he has given 
it in charge to feed his flock until such time as he shall 
return to gather them into one fold, under one shepherd 
—even himself. — See Burder's Oriental Customs, 

SHEEP-FOLDS. 

John x. 1. 
" He that entereth not by the door into the sheep-fold, 
but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and 
a robber." 

In Persia the shepherds frequently drive their flocks 
into caverns at night, and enclose them by heaping up 
walls of loose stones ; but the more common sheep-fold 
was an enclosure in the manner of a building, and con- 
structed of stone and hurdles, or fenced with reeds. It 
had a large door, or entrance, for admitting the flock, 
which was closed with hurdles ; and this entrance is 
still used in the East. 




191 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Wells — Fountains, and drawing Water — Pools of Solomon- 
Mountainous Pastures— Pastures — Pits — Deserts — ^Mirage. 



WELLS. 

Psalm Ixxxiv. 5-7. 

" Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee ; in 
whose heart are the ways of them. Who passing through 
the valley of Baca make it a well ; the rain slso Jilleth the 
pools. 

" They go from strength to strength, every one of 
them in Zion appeareth before God." 

In consequence of the distress which is felt by trav- 
ellers in the East for want of water, wells are frequently 
made expressly for them ; and more especially for those 
who travel for de\^otional purposes. 

Thus the Mahometans have dug wells in the deserts 
for those who travel to Mecca, their sacred city, to stop 
at, and drink ; the scarcity of water being sometimes so 
great during the pilgrimage, that a small skin of water 
is sold for one shilling, a large price among the Arabs. 
These wells are often made at regiilar distances, so as 
to form stations, and they are repeatedly mentioned by 
a great Eastern traveller. The following are some of 
the passages in his work which relate to them : — 

" After three hours' march w^e entered a hilly coun- 
try, where a coffee-hut stands near a well. We con- 
tinued in a broad and winding valley among these hills, 
some sandy, and some rocky, and at the end of five and a 
half hours, stopped for a short time at Xhewell called . 

" We passed a large tank, built of stones, which in 



192 WELLS. 

the time of the pilgrimage is filled with water from the 
canal. An historian says, there were formerly sixteen 
wells between the city of Muna and Mecca.. 

" We entered upon sandy ground in a valleij, where 
are some wells. 

" We passed a cluster of huts, w^ith -wells of very 
good water. It being a cloudy and dark night, we lost 
our way in following the windings of a valley, and being 
unable to regain the right road, we lay down on the 
sand, and slept till day-break." The same writer, 
speaking of the road pursued by the pilgrims from Syria, 
says, " At every watering-place are a small castle and 
a large tank at which the camels water. Water is 
plentiful on the route ; the stations are nowhere more 
distant than eleven or twelve hours' march ; and; in 
winter, pools of rain water are frequently found." In 
another place he writes, " We passed a ruined building 
wheie a well, now filled up, formerly supplied the pas- 
sengers with water. The plain is here overgrown with 
some trees and thick shrubs. We continued to cross it 
till six hours, where it closes, and the road begins to 
ascend slightly through a broad woody valley. Here is 
situated a large deep well, lined with stone, with a spring 
of good water in the bottom. This is a station of the 
pilgrimage. 

" Here are many tanks, cased with stone, constructed 
to supply the pilgrims with water." 

These extracts may also serve as comments upon 
David's words in the eighty-fourth Psalm. The valley 
of Baca is very likely the same with that of Rephaim 
(see 2 Sam. v. 22-24), in which were large shrubs, 
rendered, in our translation, mulberry-trees, but which 
the Arabs still call Baca, This valley, lying west of 
Jerusalem, the pious Israelites, journeying thither, had 
to pass. Here, therefore, they had made them wells, to 
facilitate their progress. God also sent them rain from 
heaven, which filled the pools, and thus they were 
enabled to go on from strength to strength^ from am 



WELLS. 



193 



place of refreshment to another, till before the God of 
gods they every one of them appeared in Zion, — See 
Harrner^s Observations, vol. ii., pp. 181, 182 ; Burck- 
hardfs Travels, 







GfjNESTS xxvi. 15. 
" For all the wells v/hich his father's servants had 
digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philis- 
tines had stopped them, and filled them with earth." 

17 



]94 WELLS. 

In those countries, a well of water was so great an 
acquisition, tliat there could be no surer way than that 
taken by the Philistines of injuring new settlers, or 
revenging themselves on their enemies. In the tenth 
century, this act of hostility was actually practised 
against the pilgrims to Mecca ; all the pits which had 
been dug for their benefit being filled up with sand by 
one of their enemies. — Harmer\s Observations, vol. iii., 
p. 431. 

Genesis xxix. 2, 3. 
" And he looked, and behold a well in the field .... 
and a great stone was upon the well's mouth. And 
thither were all the flocks gathered : and they rolled #he 
stone from the well's mouth, and watered the sheep, and 
put the stone again upon the well's mouth in his place." 

Canticles iv. 12. 
" A spring shut up, a fountain sealed." — (See the ar- 
ticle on the " Pools of Solomon," pp. 198-200.) 

In Arabia, and other places, it is usual. Sir J. Char- 
din informs us, to close and cover up the wells of water, 
lest the sand, which is put into motion by the winds 
there, like the water of a pond, should fill them, and 
quite stop them up. Wells and cisterns are also some- 
times locked up ; and some person is so far the propri- 
etor, that no one dares to open the well but in his pres- 
ence. Probably, therefore, Rachel was mistress of the 
well to which Jacob came, since it was opened when 
she appeared. (Verse 8-10.) — Harmer's Observations, 
vol. i., pp. 263-265. 

WELLS, AND DRAWING OF WATER. 

John It. 10, 11. 
" Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewesi 
the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give 



WELLS, AND DRAWING OF V/ATER. 195 

me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he 
would have given thee living water. The woman saith 
unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the 
well is deep : from whence, then, hast thou that li ring 
water ?" 

There are many wells and cisterns in Judea ; the first 
of which are supplied with water by springs, the latter 
by rain. It is probable that the place to which the wo- 
man of Samaria repaired, was a reservoir of rain-water ; 
since our Lord seems to oppose its waters to living wa- 
ter, which he would give her. The Eastern wells have 
oftentimes no implements for drawing of water, but what 
those bring with them that come thither ; so that travel- 
lers in those dry countries are often obliged to carry 
lines and buckets on their journey's, s.nd great leather bot- 
tles to refill from time to time. A traveller from Egypi 
to Jerusalem, says he did not forget " leather buckets to 
draw water with.'''' And another speaks of the well at 
Bethlehem, as " a good rich cistern, deep and wide ; 
for which reason " the people that go to dip water are 
provided with small leather buckets and a line ;^^ and 
these are also carried by the merchants that go through 
great deserts into far countries. 

" Coming to a well," writes Mr. Hartley, " without 
possessing the means of obtaining water, we were forci- 
bly reminded of our Lord's situation near Sychar — ' Sir, 
thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.' " 
— •Hartley'' s Researches, p. 281. 

Therefore, when the woman of Samaria heard Jesus 
speak of giving living water, and seeing him without 
anything to draw with, though the well was deep, she 
asked with astonishment, " From whence, then, hast 
thou that living water ?" for she understood not that he 
spake of the Spirit, which they that believed on him 
should receive. — See Harmer^s Observations, vol. ii., pp. 
180, ]81, 182, note. 



196 WELLS, AND DRAWING OF WATER. 

Genesis xxiv. 16-20. 
" And slie [Rebecca] went down to the well, and filled 
her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet 
her, and said. Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water 
of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord : and she 
hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and 

gave him drink And she said, I will draw water 

for thy camels also, until they have done drinking ; and 
she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough^ and 
ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all 
his camels y 

Reservoirs of rain-water in the Indies, have often a 
flight of steps down to the water ; that as the water 
diminishes, people may still take it up with their hands. 
The reservoirs of some Syrian fountains are also fur- 
nished in the same manner. This explains Rebecca's 
going down to the well. We have already seen that 
many of the Eastern wells have no conveniences to 
draw water with, but others are supplied with troughs^ 
and other contrivances for watering cattle. The fol- 
lowing story is quite a comment upon the history of 
Rebecca's courtesy to her stranger guest. It is related 
by ah Eastern traveller : — 

About five in the evening, the latter end of December, 
upon entering '-' the town of Nazareth," this gentleman 
informs us," we saw two women filling their pitchers 
with water, at a fountain, and about twelve others wait- 
ing for the same purpose, whom we desired to pour some 
water into a trough which stood hard by, that our horses 
might drink. We had scarcely made the request, before 
they instantly complied, and filled the trough ; and the 
others waited with the greatest patience." Upon return- 
ing them thanks, one of them, with very great modesty, 
replied, " We consider kindness and hospitality to stran- 
gers as an essential part of our duty." — See Harmer''s 
Observations, vol. ii., p. 182, note ; 190, 191 ; 257, 
note. 



WELLS, AND DRAWING OF WATER. 



191 



At the well of Cana, one of the women who had come 
there to draw water, " lowered her pitcher into the well, 
and offered me water to drink," — Rae Wihori^s Travels, 
vol. ii., p. 4. 




FOUNTAINS. 

Judges xv. 17-19. 
" And .... he cast away the jaw-bone out of his 
hand, and called that place Ramath-lehi [Marg., the 
casting away of the jaw-bone]. And he was sore 
athirst, and called on the Lord, and said. Thou hast 
given this great deliverance into the hand of thy ser- 
vant : and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the 
hand of the un circumcised ? But God clave a hollow 
place that was in the jaw [i, e., in Lehi], and there came 
water thereout ; and when he had drunk, his spirit came 

again, and he revived : wherefore he called the name 

■|7# 



198 FOUNTAINS. 

thereof En-hakkore [L e., t.lie v/ell of him that cried], 
which is in Lehi unto this day." 

Samson having skiin the Philistines Avith the jaw-bone 
of an ass, the place where the exploit was performed 
was called Lehi (or the jaw-bone), in remembrance of 
it ; and in this same place God clave the earth, or rock, 
in the end of a hollow place, or grotto, whence flowed 
a stream to slake the warrior's thirst. The traveller 
Doubdan, in one day, met with two such places as are 
here described. 

On Easter Monday, April 1, 1652, he set out with 
about twenty others, to visit the neighborhood of Jeru- 
salem. They went the same road the two disciples are 
supposed to have taken. (Luke xxiv.) In the place 
where our Lord is imagined to have met them, a con- 
vent was afterward built, of which only some pieces *f 
the walls, vaults, and arches remain, with a great cistern 
full of water, derived partly from rain, but more partic- 
ularly from a most beautiful and transparent fountain, a 
little above it, which breaks out in the further end of the 
grotto, naturally hollowed out in the hard rock, and which 
is overhung with small trees. The water of this spring 
running by a channel into the cistern, afterward turned 
a mill that was just by it, and thence flowed into the 
torrent-bed of the valley, whence David collected his 
five smooth stones. The same day they came to an- 
other fountain, hollowed out in the heart of a mighty 
rock, shaded over by trees, where they stayed and dined, 
sitting on the grass in the shade. {Doubdan's Voyage 
de la Terre Sainte.) — See Harmer's Observations, vol. iv., 
pp. 272-275. 

THE POOLS OF SOLOMON. 

ECCLESTASTES ii. 4-6. 

" I made me great works ; I made me gar- 
dens and orchards, [and] pools of water." 



THE POOLS OF SOLOMON. 199 

Canticles iv. 12. 
" A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse ; a spring 
shut up, a fountain sealed." 

The celebrated reservoirs, known to modern travellers 
under the name of the Pools of Solomon, are situated 
between Hebron and Bethlehem, in a most secluded spot 
upon a sloping hill, in the midst of mountains. They 
have been thus recently described : " These large, 
strong, noble structures, in a land where every work of 
art has been hurried to destruction, remain now almost 
as perfect as when they were built. There are three 
of them about four hundred and eighty, six hundred, and 
six hundred and sixty feet in length, and two hundred 
and eighty in breadth, and of different altitudes ; the 
water from the first running into the second, and from the 
second into the third ; at about a hundred yards' distance 
is the spring which supplies the reservoirs — as the 
monks say, the sealed fountain referred to in Canticles 
iv. 12. The water from these reservoirs is conveyed to 
Jerusalem by a small aqueduct — a round earthen pipe, 
about ten inches in diameter, which follows all the sin- 
uosities of the ground, being sometimes above the surface 
and sometimes under. There is every reason to believe 
that these pools have existed from the date assigned to 
them ; and that this was the site of one of King Solo- 
mon's houses of pleasure, where he made himself ' gar- 
dens, and orchards, and pools of water.' As I walked 
along the bank, or stood on the margin, it seemed almost 
the wild suggestion of a dream to imagine that the wisest 
of men had looked into the same pool, had strolled along 
the same bank, and stood on the very same steps. It 
was like annihilating all the intervals of time and space. 
Solomon and all his glory are departed ; and little could 
even his wisdom have foreseen that, long after he should 
be laid in the dust, and his kingdom passed into the 
hands of strangers, a traveller from a land* he never 

♦America. 



200 THE POOLS OF SOLOMON. 

dreamed of, would be looking upon his works, and mur- 
muring to himself the words of the Preacher, ' "Vanity 
of vanities, all is vanity.' " — Incidents of Travel, vol. ii., 
pp. 167, 168 

" These fountains are three in number, of a quad- 
rangular form, cut out of the native rock in a manner 
altogether most astonishing : one being raised above 
the other, as it were a flight of steps, and so disposed 
that the water in the uppermost flows into the second, 
and from that into the third. The spring^ from which 
they are supplied is at a short distance, and from its 
being shut up or secured, is considered to be that alluded 
to in Cant. iv. 12.*^ 

" Although the circumstances of these fountains being 
secured, does not, in itself, appear very particular, yet 
it may be considered illustrative of the meaning of the 
purity of a fountain sealed or shut in, which is a com- 
mon practice in this country, to keep them free from 
pollution. (See p. 194.) 

" The place is still secured by a door, and it is so con- 
trived that the water flows under it by a small subterra- 
neous canal on the way to Bethlehem and Jerusalem. 

" Below these cisterns, and above half a mile, is a deep 
valley, enclosed on each side by lofty mountains, repre- 
sented to be the situation where the pleasure gardens of 
the monarch were laid out, watered by rills, which at 
times descend from their heights, stored with a variety 
of plants ; and cultivated, as he says, with fruits of all 
kinds. This might be supposed, from a person of his 
curiosity and knowledge of natural history, an example 
followed by the kings of Israel and Judah. At the 
same time, on viewing the local situation of these pools 
and gardens, it struck me as abundantly evident, that 

*This seems the more probable, from the idea of the fountain 
being associated with that of a garden, in this passage (" a garden 
enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain 
sealed"), for it will appear from the sequel, that the Pools oi 
Solomon were constructed for the supply of his gardens. 



THE POOLS OF SOLOMON. 201 

the former had been made for the express purpose ol 
watering the latter, without which they would have been 
deprived of their proper nourishment to promote vege- 
tation. Indeed, in this warm region, a bountiful supply 
of water was indispensable. This leads to an observa- 
tion that we are told in the Sacred Writings, a river 
supplied water for the garden of Eden. (Gen. ii. 10.) 
The church is also represented as the paradise of Christ, 
whose spirit is a spring in it to refresh the souls of 
believers." — Rae Wilson's Travels, vol. i., pp. 267- 
269. 

It seems highly probable, from the whole passage in 
Canticles iv. 12-16, that Solomon, while contemplating 
the loveliness of the gardens before him, and the purity 
of the fountains which supplied them, employed these 
external objects as emblems of the beauty, fruitfulness. 
and purity of the church of Christ. 

MOUNTAINOUS PASTURES. 

Isaiah xlix. 9-1 1. 

" Their pastures shall be in all high places. They 
shall not hunger nor thirst ; neither shall the heat nor 
SUM smite them : for he that hath mercy on them shall 
lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide 
them." 

A FINE region which comprehends good pasturage 
and plenty of water, is held in great estimation by the 
Persian shepherds : and they carry their flocks to the 
highest parts of the mountains, where these blessings 
may be found in abundance. This perhaps, will give 
fresh force to the promises made by the prophet Isaiah, 
(xlix.) — Morier, 

PITS. 

Proverbs xxii. 14. 

" The mouth of strange women is a deep pit ; he tha,t 
is abhorred of the lord shall fall therein." 



ao2 PITS. 

Proverbs xxiii. 27. 
** A whore is a deep ditch ; and a strange woman is 
a narrow pit." 

There are some dangerous passes in the East, though 
generally the country is open. A traveller thus describes 
one of them : " Sometimes the road led us under the 
sliBde of thick trees ; sometimes through narrow valleys, 
watered with fresh murmuring torrents ; and then for a 
good while together upon a brink of a precipice. And 
in all places it treuted us with the prospect of plants 
^,nd flowers. Having spent about two hours in this man- 
ner, we descended into a low valley ; at the bottom of 
which is a fissure into the earthy of a great depth, but 
withal so narrow, that it is not discernible to the eye till 
you arrive just upon it, though to the ear notice is given 
of it at a great distance, by reason of the noise of a 
stream running down into it from the hills. We could 
not guess it to be less than thirty yards deep. But it is 
so narrow, that a small arch, not four yards over, lands 
you on its other side." May not Solomon refer to such 
a place as this ? The flowery pleasures which abound- 
ed where this fatal pit was, makes the allusion still 
more striking. How agreeable to sense the path that 
led to the chamber of death ! — Harmer'^s Observations^ 
vol.ii., pp. 220, 221. 

DESERTS. 
Isaiah xli. 18, 19. 
" .... I will make the wilderness a pool of water, 
and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the 
wilderness the cedar, the shittah-tree, and the myrtle, 
and the oil tree ; I will set in the desert the fir-tree, and 
the pine, and the box-tree together." 

Isaiah xliv. 3, 4. 
" I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods 
upon the dry ground : I will pour my spirit upon thy 



DESERTS. 



203 



seed, and my blessing upon thine otTspring : and they 
shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the 
water-courses." 

Isaiah xxxv, 7. 
" And the parched ground shall become a pool, and 
the thirsty land springs of water : in the habitation of 
dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and 
rushes." See also xlix. 10. 

Revelation vii. 17. 
" The Lamb .... shall lead them unto living fount- 
ains of Avaters." See also Psalm xxiii. 2. 

Isaiah xxxii. 2. 
"And a man shall be . , . . as rivers of water in a 
dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land '* 

Those only who are acquainted with the peculiarities 
of Eastern scenery, who have passed through sandy 
deserts exposed to burning suns, parched with thirst, 
yet unable to obtain a drop of water to assuage it, 
wearied with the constant glare upon the barren sands, 
yet looking in vain for some green spot on which to rest 
the eye, or for some friendly tree, or overhanging rock 
beneath which they might find temporary shelter and 
relief, — those only who have experienced all this, can 
fully estimate the force and beauty of the many passages 
in Scripture where the metaphors of water and shade 
are employed. 

"A man who has never toiled through burning deserts 
can have little idea of the rapture with which a group 
of trees, or a bright spot of verdure is beheld ; or of 
the deep luxury of feeling, excited by again moving 
among cottages, and fountains, and cool retreats." 

" Returning from the pyramids of Saccara," writes a 
traveller, " over a path of soft sand, we were parched 
with thirst, and would have given anything for a draught 
of water, when, unexpectedly, as if dropped from the 
clouds, a man approached us bearing an immense water 



204 DESERTS. 

melon, Avhich we received as manna from heaven. He 
had his lonely dwelling and little garden at some dis- 
tance, and had purposely crossed our way with this 
melon, knowing he should be well paid for it." 

The same gentleman going toward Jericho, says : 
" We entered on a tract of soft sand ; ascending a sand- 
hill that overlooked the plain, we saw Jericho, contrary 
to our hopes, at a great distance, and the level tract we 
must pass to arrive at it, was exposed to a sultry sun, 
without a single tree to afford us a temporary shade. 
The simile of the shadow of a great rock in a weary 
land, was never more strongly felt." In another pas- 
sage he writes (he was then in Egypt) : " Fatigued 
with heat and thirst, we came to a few cottages in a 
palm-wood, and stopped to drink of a fountain of deli- 
cious water. In a northern climate, no idea can be 
formed of the exquisite luxury of drinking, in Egypt. 
Little appetite for food is felt ; but when, after crossing 
the burning sands, you reach the rich line of Avoods on 
th*3 brink of the Nile, and pluck the fresh limes, and 
mingle their juice with the soft river water, — one then 
perceives the beauty and force of those similes in Scrip- 
ture, where the sweetest emotions of the heart are com- 
pared to the assuaging of thirst in a sultry land." — See 
Carrie's Eastern Letters, pp. 143, 162, 197. 

Isaiah xxix. 8. 
" It shall even be as when a hungry man dreameth, 
and, behold, he eateth ; but he awaketh, and his soul is 
empty ; or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, 
he drinketh ; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, 
and his soul hath appetite : so shall the multitude of all 
the nations be, that fight against Mount Zion." 

Psalm cvii. 4, 5, 
" They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way 
they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty 
their soul fainted in them." 



DESERTS. 205 

Baum(?arten thus describes the distress felt by him- 
self and his companions from want of food and water, 
while in the deserts. He writes : " Travelling all that 
day and night, v/ithout eating, resting, or sleeping, we 
could not avoid falling off our camels, while we were 
half-sleeping, half-waking. A thousand strange dreams 
and fancies came into our heads, while hungry and 
ihirstv, and we sat nodding on our camels. We thouo-ht 
we saw somebody reaching us victuals and drink, and 
putting out our hands to take it, and stretching ourselves 
to overtake it when it seemed to draw back, we tumbled 
off our camels, and by a severe fall found it a dream and 
illusion." — See note 8, in Lord Lindsay^s Letters, vol. i. 

Deuteronomy viii. 15. 
*' Who led thee through that great and terrible wil- 
derness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions,* 
and drought, where there was no water ; who brought 
thee forth water out of the rock ofjlintP 

Speaking in general of a desert, there are few springs 
of water, some of them at the distance of four, six, and 
eight days' journey from one another, and not all of sweet 
water ; on the contrary, it is generally salt or bitter, so 
that if the thirsty traveller drinks of it, it increases his 
thirst, and he suffers more than before ; but when the 
dreadful calamity happens that the next well, which is so 
anxious'ly sought for, is found dry, the misery of such a 
situation cannot well be described. The camels, which 
afford the only means of escape, are so thirsty that they 
cannot proceed to another well ; and if the travellers kill 
them to extract the little liquid which remains in their 
stomachs, they themselves cannot advance any farther. 
The situation must be dreadful. .... Many perish vic- 
tims of the most horrible thirst. It is then that the value 

of a cup of water is really felt If the master has 

none, the servant will not give it to him, for very few 

* See pages 224-226. 
18 



206 DESERTS. 

are the instances where a man will voluntarily lose his 
life to save that of another, particularly in a caravan in 
the desert, where people are strangers to each other. 
What a situation for a man, though a rich one, perhaps 
the owner of all the caravans ! He is dying for a cup 
of water — no one gives it to him — he offers all he pos- 
sesses — no one hears him — they are all dying — though 
by walking a few hours farther they might be saved • 
the camels are lying down, and cannot be made to rise , 
no one has strength to walk, only he that has a glass of 
that precious liquid, lives to walk a mile farther, and 
perhaps dies too To be thirsty in a desert with- 
out water, exposed to the burning sun, without shelter, 
and no hopes of finding either, is the most terrible situa- 
tion that a man can be placed in ; and I believe, one 
of the greatest sufferings that a human being can en- 
dure ; — the eyes grow inflamed, the lips and tongue 
swell, a hollow sound is heard in the ears, which brings 
on deafness ; and the brains appear to grow thick and in- 
flamed, — all these feelings arise from the want of a little 
water.* In the midst of all this misery, the deceitful 
mirages appear before the traveller at no great distance, 

something like a lake or river of clear fresh water 

If a traveller is not undeceived, he hastens his pace to 
reach it sooner ; the more he advances toward it, the 
more it goes from him, till at last it vanishes entirely, 
and the deluded passenger often asks where is the water 
he saw at no great distance ; he can scarcely believe 
that he was so deceived — he protests that he saw the 
waves running before the wind, and the reflection of the 
high rocks in the water. If any one falls sick on the 
road, there is no alternative, he must endure the fatigue 
of travelling on a camel, which is troublesome even to 
healthy people, or he must be left behind on the sand, 
without any assistance, and remain so till he dies. No 
one remains with him — not even his old and faithful 
servant — no one will stay and die with him ; all pity his 
* Pages 208, 209, 



DESERTS. 207 

*ate, but no one will be his companion. Why not stop 
the whole caravan till he is better, or do what they can 
for the best till he dies ? No, this delay cannot be ; it 
would put all in danger of perishing of thirst if they do 
not reach the next well in such a time ; besides, they all 
are different parties generally of merchants or travellers, 
who will not even wait a few hours to save the life of an 
individual, whether they know him or not. — BehonVs 
Travels, p. 341-343. 

Jeremiah ii. 6. 
" Neither said they, Where is the Lord that brought 
us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the 
wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, 
through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, 
through a land that no man passed through, and where 
no man dwelt ?" 

A TRAVELLER in the wilderness writes in one place : 
" The path winded around the side of the mountain, and 
to our left, a horrid chasm, some hundred fathoms deep, 
presented itself to our view. It is surprising no accident 
befell the loaded camels." Again he says : " On each 
side of us were perpendicular steeps some hundred 
fathoms deep. On every part is a wild confusion of 
hanging precipices, disjointed rocks, and hideous chasms. 
Omnipotent Father ! to thee we trust for our deliver- 
ance from the perils that surround us. It was through 
this wilderness thou didst lead thy chosen people. It 
was here thou didst manifest thy signal protection, in 
snatching them from the jaws' of destruction which 
opened upon every side." In the next page, the same 
writer continues : " We came suddenly upon a dread- 
ful chasm in the road, about three hundred yards long, 
one hundred wide, and as many deep ; and in the middle 
of the gulf a single column of stone raises its head to the 
surface of the earth." — Harmer's Observations, vol. iv., 
pp. 117, 118. 



208 ' DESERTS. 

Deuteronomy xxxii. 10. 
" He found him in a desert land, and in the waste, 
howling wilderness ; he led him about, he instructed 
him, he kept him as the apple of his eye." 

Needful, indeed, was such guidance, in the wilder- 
ness through which Israel passed. A very few passages 
from travellers will prove this. " We ascended [writer 
one of these] by the side of a mountain. The path was 
narrow and perpendicular, and much resembled a ladder. 
To make it worse, ... an ignorant guide led us astray. 
Here we found ourselves in a pretty situation ! We were 
obliged to gain the heights, in order to recover the road ; 
in performing which, we drove our poor camels up such 
steeps, as we had the greatest difficulty to climb after 
them. We were under the necessity of leaving them 
to themselves ; as the danger of leading them through 
places where the least false step would have precip- 
itated both man and beast to the unfathomable abyss be- 
low, was too critical to hazard." How precious, in such 
a situation, the instruction and care of the " Keeper of 
Israel !" — Harmer^s Observations^ vol. iv., 124, 125. 

THE MIRAGE. 
Isaiah xxxv. 7. 
" And the parched ground shall become a pool." 

Bishop Lowth translates this clause thus : " And 
the glowing sand shall become a pool." In hi^note on 
the passage, he says : " The word is Arabic, as well as 
Hebrew ; but it means the same in both languages, 
namely, the glowing sandy plain, which, in the hot 
countries, at a distance, has the appearance of water. 
It sometimes tempts thirsty travellers out of their v/ay, 
but deceives them when they come near, either going 
forward, for it always appears at the same distance, or 
it quite vanishes." Dr. Clarke, in his travels, has given 
a very lively view of this wonderful appearance. He 
writes : " We arrived at the wretched solitary village of ' 



THE MIRAGE. 209 

Utko, near the muddy shore of the lake of that name. 
.... Here we procured asses for all our party, and 
setting out for Rosetta, began to recross the desert, ap- 
pearing like an ocean of sand, but flatter and firmer, as 
to its surface, than before. The Arabs, uttering their 
harsh guttural language, ran chattering by the side of 
our asses, until some of them called out ' Raschid' 
(Rosetta), and we perceived its domes and turrets, ap- 
parently upon the opposite side of an immense lake or 
sea, that covered all the intervening space between us 
and the city. Not having in my ov/n mind, at the time, 
any doubt as to the certainty of its being water, and see- 
ing the tall minarets and buildings of Rosetta, with all 
its groves of dates and sycamores, as perfectly reflected 
by it as by a mirror, insomuch that even the minutest 
detail of the architecture, and the trees, might have been 
thence delineated, I applied to the Arabs to be informed 
in what manner we were to pass the water. Our inter- 
preter, although a Greek, and therefore likely to have 
been informed of such a spectacle, was as fully convinced 
as any of us, that we were drawing near to the water's 
edge, and became indignant when the Arabs maintained 
that within an hour we should reach Rosetta, by crossing 
the sands in the direct line we then pursued, and that 
there was no water. ' What !' said he, giving way to 
his impatience, * do you suppose me an idiot, to be per- 
suaded contrary to the evidence of my senses V The 
Arabs, smiling, soon pacified him, and completely aston- 
ished the whole party, by desiring us to look back at 
the desert we had already passed, where we beheld a pre- 
cisely similar appearance. It was, in fact, the mirage — 
a prodigy to which every one of us were then strangers, 
although it afterward became more familiar." 

Isaiah therefore declares, that in those happy days of 
which he was speaking, there should be-no more this decep- 
tion to distress the thirsty wanderer — in that time when 
the wilderness and the solitary place should be glad, the 
glowing sand also should really become a pool of water. 

18* 



210 




CHAPTER XIV. 

Natural History — Lions — Arabian Horse — Wild Asses — ^White 
Asses-Dogs — Crocodiles — Storks — Hunting Partridges — Cock- 
crowing — Serpents — Scorpions — Mice — Locusts — Flies — Lo- 
cust-trees — Salt. 

LIONS. 

Amos iii. 
" The lion hath roared wl o will not fear V 



The roaring of a lion in quest of his prey, resembles 
the sound of distant thunder, and being re-echoed by the 
rocks and mountains, appals the whole race of animals, 
and puts them instantly to flight; but he frequently 
varies his voice into a hideous scream or yell. " When 
the lion roars, the beasts of the field can do nothing but 
quake ; they are afraid to lie still in their dens, lest he 



LIONS. 211 

spring upon them, and equally afraid to run, lest, in at- 
tempting to escape, they should take the direction in 
which he is prowling, and throw themselves into the 
jaws of their adversary." — Voyage to the Cape of Good 
Hope, 

EzEKiEL xix. 6-8. 
" [He] became a young lion, and learned to catch 
the prey. . . . Then the nations set against nim. . . 
and spread their net over him : he was taken in their 
pit." (See also Psalm ix. 15.) 

Fire is what the lions are most afraid of ; yet, not- 
withstanding all the precaution of the Arabs in this re- 
spect^ — notwithstanding the barking of their dogs, and 
their own repeated cries and exclamations during the 
night, when they are suspected to be upon the prey, — 
it frequently happens that these ravenous beasts, out- 
braving all these terrors, will leap into the midst of the 
place where the cattle are enclosed, and drag thence 
a sheep or a goat. If these ravages are repeated, then 
the Arabs dig a pit where they are observed to enter, and 
covering it over slightly with reeds, or small branches 
of trees, they frequently decoy and catch them. The 
flesh of the lion is in great esteem, having no small 
affinity with veal, both in color, taste, and flavor. — 
Shaw's Travels, p. 245. 

ARABIAN HORSE. 

Job xxxix. 19-25. 
" Hast thou given the horse strength ? Hast thou 
clothed his neck with thunder 1 Canst thou make him 
afraid as a grasshopper 1 The glory of his nostrils is 
terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his 
strength : he goeth on to meet the armed men. He 
mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted ; neither turneth 
he back from the sword. The quiver rattleth against 



212 ARABIAN HORSF 

him, the glittering spear and the shield. He swallow 
eth the ground with fierceness and rage : neither be 
lieveth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. He saith 
among the trumpets, ha, ha ; and he smelleth the battle 
afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting." 

The Arabian horses are justly esteemed for their re- 
markable hardiness, swiftness, and beauty. Mr. Ste- 
phens says of one of them, the property of the sheikh 
of the tribe of Arabs he was then with : " The sheikh's 
was an extraordinary animal. The saddle had not been 
off her back for thirty days ; and the sheikh, himself a 
most restless creature, would dash off suddenly a dozen 
times a day, on a full run across the valley, up the sides 
of a mountain, round and round our caravan, with his 
long spear poised in the air, and his dress streaming in 
the wind ; and when he returned and brought her to a 
v/alk at my side, the beautiful animal would snort and 
paw the ground, as if proud of what she had done, and 
anxious for another course. I could almost imagine 1 
saw the ancient war-horse of Idumea so finely described 
by Job. — Incidents of Travel^ vol. ii., pp. 118, 119. 



WILD ASS. 

Jeremiah ii. 24. 
" [Thou art] a wild ass used to the wilderness, that 
snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure." 

Jeremiah xiv. 6. 
* And the wild asses did stand in the high places ; 
they snuffed up the wind like dragons ; their eyes did 
fail, because there was no grass." 

When travelling in Persia, Mr. Morier writes : 
" On the desert, .... in the gray of the morning, we 
gave chase to two wild asses, which had so much the 
speed of our horses, that when they had got at some 



WILD ASS. 



213 



distance they stood still and looked behind at us, snort- 
ing with their noses in the air, as if in contempt of our 
endeavors to catch them. The Persians sometimes 
succeed in killing them, but not without great dexterity 
and knowledge of their haunts. To effect this, they 
place relays of horsemen and dogs upon the track 
xvhich they are known to pursue, and then hunt them 




toward the relays, when the fresh dogs and horses are 
started upon the half-exhausted animal. This animal is 
common to the whole of Persia, although its proper soil 
is Arabia. It is of a light mouse-color, with a dark 
streak over its shoulders and down its back. The head 
is large, but it is much more light and lively than the 
common ass, in its gait. It is of a most obstinate na- 
ture, and seems to be extremely refractory under any 
restraint. The wildness and love of liberty which char- 



214 WILD ASS. 

acterize this animal, are beautifully described by the 
prophet Jeremiah : ' A wild ass used to the wilderness, 
that snufFeth up the wind at her pleasure' (eh. ii. 24), 
and again in ch. xiv. 6, when their image is alhed to all 
the horrors of a parched desert.'^ — Moriefs Second Jour- 
ney through Persia, <SfC., pp. 200-202. 



WHITE ASSES. 

Judges v. 10. 
" Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in 
judgment." 

White asses come from Arabia. Their scarcity 
makes them valuable, and gives them consequence. Mr. 
Morier says, that in Ispahan, in Persia, " The mollahs, 
or men of the law, are generally to be seen riding about 
on mules ; and they also account it a dignity, and suited 
to their character, to ride on white asses ; which is a 
striking illustration of what we read in Judges v. 10." — 
Morier^s Second Journey through Persia, p. 136. 



DOGS. 

Psalm lix. 14, 15. 
"• And at evening let them return ; and let them make 
a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. Let 
them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they 
be not satisfied." 

By the Jewish law, the dog was an unclean animal, 
and much despised. Dogs were very numerous in the 
cities of the Jews. They were not shut up in their 
houses or courts, but wandered up and down, seeking 
food. They sometimes made great howlings, especially 
when oppressed by hunger. — Calmet. 



ii- 



DOGS. 215 



The Turks reckon a dog an unclean creature, and 
therefore drive him from their houses. These animals 
belong not among them to any particular owners, but 
rather guard the streets and districts than any house, 
living on the refuse that is thrown abroad — Russell. 

The words, " At evening let them return," alludes to 
the return of the dogs into the city, after their wander- 
ing in the suburbs and other places in quest of prey. 

In very ancient times, dogs were looked upon as sa- 
cred ; and Herodotus says, that on the death of a dog 
in Egypt, the people shaved their heads, and that the 
females were buried in consecrated chests when they 
die. " It was, perhaps, to prevent the Israelites from 
retaining any notion of this kind, that no dog was suf- 
fered to come within the precincts of their temple at 
Jerusalem." — Bryant. 

By the ancient Jews, dogs were regarded in a disa- 
greeable light. " Am I a dog ?" said the Philistine to 
David. " What, is thy servant a dog ?" said Hazael, &c. 
At the present day, the people in the East avoid with 
care touching this animal in the streets ; and, indeed, it 
may be remarked, that in most countries and languages 
the word " dog^ is a term of contempt. 



CROCODILES. 

Job vii. 12. 
'' Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch 
over me ?" 

The river Nile, in its inundations, is sometimes dan- 
gerous, and requires to be watched, lest its waters should 
carry away villages — as has been the case. Of one of 
the greatest of these inundations ever known, an eye- 
witness has left the following history : — 

The Egyptians generally erect fences of earth and 
reeds, and mounds also, around their viliage3, to protect 



216 



CROCODILES. 



them from the waters ; but on this occasion, all was vain. 
" Their cottages, built of earth, could not stand one in- 
stant against the current ; and no sooner did the water 
reach them, than it levelled them with the ground. 
The rapid stream carried off all that was before it — men. 
women, and children, cattle, corn, everything — was 
washed away in an instant, and left the place where 
the village stood, without anything to indicate that there 
had ever been a house on the spot. Egypt appeared 
tc be in the midst of a vast lake containing various 




islands The village of Agalta was four feet 

below the water, and the poor people were on watch 
day and night round their fences : if they should be 
broken down, all was lost. We offered to take one with 
us, but he could not leave the place he was ordered to 
guard. 



CROCODILES. 217 

*^ We saw several villages in great danger of being 
destroyed. The rapid stream had carried away the 
fences, and their unfortunate inhabitants were obliged 
to escape to higher grounds, where it was possible, with 
what they could save from the water. The distress of 
these people was great. Some crossed the water on 
pieces of wood — some on cows — and others with reeds 
tied up in large bundles. The small spots ot high 
ground that stood above the water, formed so many 
sanctuaries, and were crowded with people and beasts. 
The scanty stock of provisions they could save, was the 
only subsistence they could expect. In some parts the 
water had left scarcely any dry ground, and no relict 
could be hoped for till four-and-twenty days had elapsed. 
The chiefs of the country did everything they could to 
assist the villagers with their little boats ; but they were 
so small in proportion to what was wanted, that they 
could not relieve the greater part. It was distressing to 
behold these poor creatures in such a situation. To ap- 
proach them with our little boat would have been dan- 
gerous both to them and to us ; for so many would enter 
it at once, that the boat would sink, and we along with 
them." — Belzoni^s Travels. 

The word translated whale, in this passage, probably 
means a crocodile. This creature is extremely dan- 
.gerous, being known to carry off even men on the 
borders of the Nile, and in some parts their numbers 
are so great, that they sometimes stop small troops ol 
travellers. The Egyptians therefore watch them with 
great attention, in order to secure and slay them. Deep 
ditches are dug along the river, into which the crocodile 
may fdl. Some bait them — others hide themselves in 
the places which they know to be frequented by this 
creature, and lay snares for him. Some are even bold 
enough to fix the dart in him while he sleeps. One of 
the inhabitants of Upper Egypt took one of them in 
the following novel and singular manner : " He placed 
a very young boy in the spot where the day before a 
1 . 19 



218 CR0C0DILE?5. 

crocodile had devoured a girl of fifteen, belonging to 
the governor of the place, v^ho had promised a rev^ard 
to any one who should bring him the animal dead or 
alive. The man at the same time concealed himself 
very near the child, holding a large board in his hand ; 
as soon as he perceived the crocodile had advanced near 
the child, he pushed his board into the open mouth of . 
the creature, upon which his sharp teeth, which cross 
each other, entered into this board with such violence, 
that he could not disengage them, so that it was impos- 
sible for him after that to open his mouth." 

The man secured him, and gained the reward. 

The crocodile is possessed of extraordinary force. 

" A few days ago," writes a traveller, " they brought 
me one alive, a foot and a half long only. He was 
secured by a cord. I caused his snout to be set free, 
and he immediately turned to bite him that held him ; 
but he only seized on his own tail, into which his teeth 
entered so far, that it was necessary to make use of an 
iron instrument to open his mouth. This creature might 
be no more than a fortnight old. AVhat might one of 
twenty or more feet do ? I last year saw one of twelve 
feet, which had eaten nothing for thirty-five days, having 
his mouth muzzled all that time. With one stroke of 
his tail, he threw down five or six men, and a bale of 
coffee, with perfect ease." — Maillet. See Harmer^s Oh- 
.servations, vol. iii., pp. 514-517. 

Job xli. 
" Canst thou draw out leviathan with a hook ? . . . . 
Will he speak soft words unto thee ? . . . . Canst thou 
fill his skin with bairbed irons ? . . . . His scales are his 
pride, shut up together as with a close seal. One is so 
near to another, that no air can come between them. ... 

In his neck remaineth strength When he raiseth 

up himself, the mighty are afraid : . . . . Sharp stones 
are under him : .... he maketh the deep to boil like 
a pot : he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment. He 



CROCODILES. 219 

maketh a path to shine after him ; one would think the 
deep to be hoary. Upon earth there is not his like, who 
is made without fear." (See whole chapter.) 

This description of the leviathan, or crocodile, ex- 
actly agrees with our accounts of that terrible creature. 
It devours fishing-tackle ; two hooks were found in one, 
which it had swallowed. Its length is about twenty feet, 
its breadth five ; it has the largest mouth of all monsters. 
It has near eighty sharp, strong, massy teeth — its voice 
is terrific — a loud, hollow growling — and it is furnished 
with a coat so scaly and callous as to resist the force of 
a musket-ball in every part, except under the belly. Its 
voracity and strength are enormous — it is very fleet in 
swimming — attacks mankind and the largest animals 
with the most daring impetuosity — nothing that it once 
seizes can escape, — for, shaking its prey to pieces, it 
swallows it without mastication. So hard and impene- 
trable are the scales of the crocodile, that splinters of 
flint, sharp stones, are the same to him as the softest 
reeds. When he dives to the bottom, the agitation of 
the water may justly be compared to liquor boiling in a 
caldron ; and his body being strongly impregnated with 
the scent of musk, the water is affected by it to a con- 
siderable distance ; by his rapid passage through the 
water hfe makes it white with foam, in Job's expressive 
language, " one would think the deep to be hoary." By 
his tail he caused the waves to sparkle like a train of 
light. There is no creature among terrestrial animals 
so thoroughly dangerous, so exceedingly strong, so dif- 
ficult to be wounded or slain, and perhaps there is no 
creature so totally destitute of fear. — Notes upon the 
forty-first chapter of Job, in the Treasury Bible, 



220 STORKS. 



STORKS. 



Jeremiah viii. 7. 
^' Yea, the stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed 

times But my people know not the judgment of 

the Lord." 

Dr. Shaw saw the stork, returning in such numbers 
near to, or over the Holy Land, as could not but attract 
his notice, when he w^as on the coast of that country. 
^'I saw," he writes, "in the middle of April, 1722 
(our ship then lying at anchor under Mount Carmel), 
three flights of storks, some of which were more open 
and scattered, with larger intervals between them ; oth- 
ers were closer and more compact, as in the flights of 
crows and other birds each of which took up more than 
three hours in passing by us, extending itself, at the same 
time, more than half a mile in breadth. They were 
then leaving Egypt (where the canals and ponds that 
are annually left by the Nile, were become dry), and 
directed themselves toward the northeast." The ex- 
pression, stork in the heaven, points out the manner in 
which this bird flies in its passage, whereas many birds 
come and go in a more private and concealed manner. 
Dr. Shawns Travels, p. 428 ; see Harmer's Observations, 
vol. iii., pp. 327, 328. 

HUNTING PARTRIDGES. 

1 Samuel xxvi. 20. 
"Now therefore, let r^ot my blood fall to the earth 
before the face of the Lord : for the king of Israel is 
come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a par- 
tridge in the mountains." 

The Arabs have the following method of catching 
partridges. Observing that they become languid and 



r HUNTING PARTRIDGES. 221 

fatigued after they have been hastily put up twice or 
thrice, they immediately run in upon them, and knock 
them down with their bludgeons. It was precisely in 
this manner Saul hunted David ; coming hastily upon 
him, and putting him up from time to time, in hopes he 
should at length, by frequent repetitions of it, be able to 
destroy him. — Harmer^s Observations, vol. ii., pp. 75, 76. 



COCK-CROWING IN THE EAST. 

Mark xiv. 30. 
"In this night, before the cock crow twicOj thou shalt 
deny me thrice." (See also ch. xiii. 35.) 

"It has been often remarked, in illustration of Scrip- 
ture, that in the Eastern countries the cocks crow in the 
night ; but the regularity with which they keep what 
may be called the watches, has not been, perhaps, suffi- 
ciently noticed. I will, however, confine myself to one, 
and that is between eleven and twelve o'clock. I have 
often heard the cocks of Smyrna crowing in full chorus 
at that time, and with scarcely the variation of a minute. 
The second cock-crowing is between one and two o'clock. 
Therefore, when our Lord says, ' In this night, before 
the cock crow twice,'' the allusion was clearly to these 
seasons. In fact, this was altogether so novel to me at 
my first arrival in Smyrna, that I could calculate the 
hours of the night with as much precision, by what I 
termed my alectrometer, as by my y^dXchr-^ArundeV s 
Discoveries in Asia Minor, 

SERPENTS. 

Psalm Iviii. 4, 5. 
" They are likeiihe deaf adder that stoppeth her ear ; 
which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charm- 
ing never so wisely." 

19* 



222 SERPENTS. 

In these words there is an evident allusion to a com- 
mon practice in the East. The cobra de capella, or 
hooded snake, is a large and beautiful serpent, but one 
of the most venomous. It has the power of contracting 
or enlarging its hood, the centre of which is marked in 
black and white, like a pair of spectacles, on which 
account it is called the spectacle snake. Of this kind 
are the dancing snakes, which are carried in baskets 
through Hindoostan, and procure a maintenance for a 
set of people who play a few simple notes on the flute, 
with which the snakes seem much delighted, and keep 
lime by a graceful motion of the head, erecting about 
half their length from the ground, and following the 
music with gentle curves. " Among my drawings,'* 
writes an Eastern traveller, " is that of a cobra de ca- 
jjella, which danoed for an hour on the table, while I 
painted it ; during which time I frequently handled it, to 
•observe the beauty of the spots, and especially the spec- 
tacles on the hood, not doubting but that its venomous 
fangs had been previously extracted. But the next 
morning, my u,pper servant came to me in great haste, 
and desired thsit I would instantly retire and praise God 
for my good fortune. Not understanding his meaning, 
I told him that I had already performed my devotions. 
He then informed me, that, while purchasing some fruit, 
he observed the man who had been with me on the pre- 
ceding evenin;g-, entertaining the country people with his 
dancing snakes : they, according to their usual custom, 
sat on the giound around him ; when, either from the 
music stopping too suddenly, or from some other cause 
irritating the vicious reptile, which I had so often 
handled, it darted at the throat of a young woman, and 
iniiicteda .wound of which she died in about a half an 
hour." 

In N<}.ri5 of the Penny Magazine (for April, 1833), 
is the following narrative, communic#ed to the writer 
by a g'entleman of high station in the Honorable Com- 
pany%<Gi\iI Service at Madras. 



SERPENTS. 223 

" One morning as I sat at breakfast, I heard a loud 
noise and shouting among my palankeen-bearers. On 
inquiry, I learned that they had seen a large hooded 
snake, and were trying lo kill it. I immediately went 
out, and saw the snake climbing up a very high green 
mound, whence it escaped into a hole in an old wall 
of an ancient fortification ; the men were armed with 
their sticks, which they always carry in thei/ hands, 
and had attempted in vain to kill the reptile, which had 
eluded their pursuit, and in this hole he had coiled him- 
self up secure, while we could see his bright eyes 
shining. I had often desired to ascertain the truth of 
the report, as to the effect of music upon snakes : I 
therefore inquired for a snake-catcher. I was told there 
was no person of the kind in the village : but after a 
little inquiry, I heard there was one in a village distant 
three miles. I accordingly sent for him, keeping a 
strict watch over the snake, which never attempted to 
escape while we, his enemies, were in sight. About an 
hour elapsed w^hen my messenger returned, bringing a 
snake-catcher. This man wore no covering on his head, 
nor any on his person, excepting a small piece of cloth 
round his loins ; he had in his hands two baskets, one 
containing tame snakes, one empty ; these and his musi- 
cal pipe were the only things he had with him. I made 
the snake-catcher leave his two baskets on the ground at 
some distance, while he ascended the mound with his 
pipe alone. He began to play : at the sound of music 
the snake came gradually and slowly out of his hole. 
When he was entirely within reach, the snake-catcher 
seized him dexterously by the tail, and held him thus at 
arm's length ; while the snake, enraged, darted his head 
in all directions but in vain : thus suspended, he has not 
the power to round himself so as to seize hold of his 
tormentor. He exhausted himself in vain ^xertiona; 
when the snake-catcher descended the bank, dropped 
him into the empty basket, and closed the lid ; he then 
began to play, and after a short time, raising the lid of 



224 ^ SERPENTS. 

the basket, the snake darted about wildly, and attempted 
to escape ; the lid was shut down again quickly, the 
music always playing. This was repeated two or three 
times ; and in a very short interval, the lid being raised, 
the snake sat on his tail, opened his hood and danced 
quite as quietly as the tame snakes in the other basket ; 
nor did he again attempt an escape. This, having wit- 
nessed with my own eyes, I can assert as a fact." 

Amos v. 19. 
" As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met 
him ; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the 
wall, and a serpent bit him." 

" Ammadeddulat, who reigned in Persia in the 
tenth century, and was a most generous prince, found 
himself reduced to great difficulties, when fortune, which 
had raised him from a very low state (for he was 
nothing more than a son of a fisherman), undertook to 

maintain him For walking one day in one of the 

rooms of his palace, which had been before that time 
the residence of Jacout, his enemy, he perceived a ser- 
pent, which put his head out of a chink in the wall. 
Upon which he immediately ordered that the place 
should be searxjhed, and the serpent killed. In opening 
the wall there, they found a secret place, in which they 
could not discover the serpent, but a treasure which was 
lodged in several coffers.". . . . 

This story is in the collection from Eastern writers, 
made by M. d'Herbelot. A traveller also mentions 
being alarmed at a person's being stung by a scorpion 
concealed in a hole of the house-wall. — Harmer's OhseV" 
vations, vol. i., pp. 331, 332. 

SCORPIONS IN THE WILDERNESS, 

Deuteronomy viii. 15. 
" Wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions." 



SCORPIONS IN THE WILDERNESS. 225 

" We entered into Wady Araba," writes Laborde, 
" the plain of Elath and of Ezion Gaba, the scriptural 
route of the Red sea. When the Israelites were de- 
feated by the Amalekites and the Cananeans, and refused 
admission into the country of the Edomites, they de- 
scended into Wady Araba, in order to turn Idumea. On 
arriving in this valley, their sufferings were still farther 
augmented by the multitude of serpents which assailed 
them. The fact thus recorded in Scripture, is fully con- 
firmed by the report of the Arabs, and by the v^st num- 
bers of those reptiles which we found twoleague» to the 
east of this place." When near a forest in the desert, 
the same traveller thus describes the bite of the scor- 
pion, the burning effect of which accounts for the term 
" fiery serpent" : — 




•^ A little black boy, belonging to the governor, who 
was running about, set up the most inhuman cries : he 
was stung by a scorpion which he had trod upon. He 
must have suffered excessive pain ; for although of a 
race which bears everything with remarkable patience. 



22b SCORPIONS IN THE WILDERNESS. 

he rolled on the ground, grinding his teeth, and foaming 
at the mouth. We knew of no remedy by which we 
could afford him relief. ' The people put a bandage on 
the wound, which produced little effect. After three 
long quarters of an hour of suffering, he complained less, 
but could make no use of his foot, which was very much 
inflamed. Our friends, who had been used to accidents 
of this kind, looked upon it as an ordinary affair, but 
advised us at the same time to be on our guard, as the 
serpents abounded in these walls." — See Amos v. 19.— 
Lahorde's Mount Sinai and Petra, p. 122. 

MICE. 

1 Samuel vi. 5. 
" Wherefore ye shall make images .... of your 
mice, that mar the land ; and ye shall give glory unto 
the God of Israel ; peradventure he will lighten his 
hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off 
your land." 

This terrible scourge was not peculiar to Palestine. 
An historian* mentions, that so vast a multitude of mice 
sometimes invaded Spain in ancient times, that they 
produced a destructive pestilence ; and in Cantabria, 
the Romans, by setting a price upon a certain measure 
of these animals, escaped with difficulty from the same 
calamity ; while in other parts of Italy the number of 
field-mice was so great, that some of the inhabitants 
were forced to leave the country. About the beginning 
of the 12th century, swarms of locusts and mice during 
four successive years, so completely ravaged that land, 
as to cause almost a total failure of the necessaries of 
life. So great and general was the distress of the 
people, that a kind^ of penitential council was held m 
the year 1120, for ths reformation of manners, and to 

*Strabo. 



MICE. 227 

invoke the mercy of the Almighty, who had been pro* 
voked by their sins to inflict upon them such terrible 
judgments. 

LOCUSTS. 

Matthew iii. 
" His meat was locusts and wild honey. 

"The southeast* wind," writes a traveller," constantly 
brought with it innumerable flights of locusts, but those 
which fell on this occasion, we were informed, were not 
of the predatory sort. They were three inches long 
from the head to the extremity of the wing, and their 
body and head of a bright yellow. The locusts which 
destroys vegetation is of a larger kind, and of a deep 




red. As soon as the wind had subsided, the plain of 
Bushire was covered by a great number of its poorer 
inhabitants, men, women, and children, who came out 
to gather locusts, which they eat. They also dry and 
salt them, and afterward sell them in the bazars as 
the food of the lowest peasantry. When boiled, the 
yellow ones turn red, and eat like stale or decayed 
shrimps. The locustsf and wild honey, which St. John 

•Exodus X. 13. 

f The locust was a clean meat. (Levit. xl- 22.) 



228 LOCUSTS 

ate in the wilderness, are, perhaps, particularly men* 
tioned to show that he fared like the poorest of men, 
and not as a wild man, as some might interpret. In- 
deed, the general appearance of St. John, clothed with 
camel's hair (or skin), with a leathern girdle about his 
loins, and living a life of the greatest self-denial, was 
that of the older Jewish prophets (Zach. xiii. 4), and 
such was the dress of Elijah, the hairy man, with a 
girdle about his loins, described in 2 Kings i. 8. — Mo- 
Tier's Second Journey through Persia, Sfc, p. 44. 

A French traveller, who passed Egypt on his way 
from the upper country and the Red sea, assures me, 
the Arabs make a sort of bread of the locusts. They 
dry them, grind them to a powder ; then mix this powder 
with water, and make small round cakes, which serve 
for bread, when that necessary article is scarce. — Mad- 
den's Travels, 

Jeremiah li. 14. 

" Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars, 
and they shall lift up a shout against thee." 

Nahum iii. 17. 
" Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as 
the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in 
the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, 
and their place is not known where they are." 

While at Shiraz, Mr. Morier records that, " On the 
11 th of June, while seated in our tents about noon, we 
heard a very unusual noise, that sounded like the rushing 
of a great wind at a distance. On looking up we per- 
ceived an immense cloud, here and there semi-trans- 
parent, in other parts quite black, that spread itself all 
over the sky, and at intervals shadowed the sun. This 
we soon found to be locusts, whole swarms of them 
falling about us ; but their passage was but momentary, 
for a fresh wind from the southwest, which had brought 
them to us, so completely drove them forward, that not 



LOCUSTS. 22 

a vestige of them was to be seen two hours after. The 
locusts which we saw at Bushire were like those which 
Dr. Shaw saw in Barbary, with legs and body of a 
bright yellow, and the wings spotted brown. These 
were larger and of a red color, and I should suppose 
are the real predatory locust, one of the Egyptian 
plagues ; they are also the great grasshopper mentioned 
by the prophet Nahum, no doubt in contradistinction to 
the lesser. As soon as they appeared, the gardeners 
and husbandmen made loud shouts^ to prevent their 
settling on their grounds. The strength and agility of 
these animals make me suppose that this was their first 
flight, and that they could not have come from any great 
distance. The Persians said they came from the Ger- 
mesir (or ' the hot,' being a hot and desert tract of land 
in Persia), which is likely enough, as that was the di- 
rection whence the wind blew. They seemed to be 
impelled by one common instinct, and moved in one 
body, which had the appearance of being organized by a 
leader. All was dry in the plain of Shiraz, the same 
instinct seemed to propel them forward to countries of 
more vegetation, and with a small slant of the wind to 
the westward they would get into the mountains of 
Louristan, where the corn was not ripe : and where, as 
the prophet Joel says (i. 3), after comparing them to a 
great army, ' they had the land of Eden before them.' 
Their strength must be very great, if we consider what 
immense journeys they have been known to make. They 
came from Africa to Italy — they have been known in 
Scotland, and have been seen in the island of Mada- 
gascar, the nearest point of which, from Mosambique 
on the continent, is one hundred and twenty leagues. 

"I have had opportunities [continues Mr. Morier], 
from time to time to make observations on the locust, par- 
ticularly at Smyrna, where, in 1800 they committed 
great depredations. About the middle of April the 
hedges and ridges of the fields began to swarm with 
young locusts, which then wore a black appearance, had 

20 



230 LOCUSTS. 

no wings, and were quite harmless. About the middle 
of May they had increased triple the size, were of a 
gray cindery color, and had incipient wings about half 
an inch long. They still continued to be harmless ; but 
at the end of June they had grown to their full size, 
w^iich was three and a half inches in length ; the legs, 
head, and extremities, red ; the body a pale color, tend- 
ing to red. They appear to be created for a scourge ; 
since to strength incredible for so small a creature, they 
add saw-like teeth, admirably calculated to • eat up all 
the herbs in the land, and devour the fruit of the ground.' 
They remained on the face of the country during the 
months of July and August, sometimes taking their 
flight in vast clouds, and impelled by a strong wind, 
were either lost in the sea, or were driven into other 
countries. It was during their stay that they showed 
themselves to be the real plague described in Exodus. 
They seemed to march in regular battalions, crawling 
over everything that lay in their passage, in one straight 
front. They entered the inmost recesses of the houses, 
Avere found in every corner, stuck to our clothes, and 
infested our food. The locusts lay their eggs in the 
autumn, which they do frequently before they take their 
flight. Sometimes they deposite them in countries 
where they alight after their flight. The husbandman 
and vine-dressers knew whether eggs had been depos- 
ited by them, and were most active in discovering them. 
Sometimes it would happen that none had been depos- 
ited at one village while they were found at the next, 
and they calculated their harvests and vintages accord- 
ingly. The operation of the female locust in laying 
her eggs, is highly interesting. She chooses a piece 
of light earth, well protected by a bush or hedge, 
where she makes a hole for herself, so deep that her 
head just appears above it. She here deposites an ob- 
long substance, exactly the shape of her own body, 
which contains a considerable number of eggs, arranged 
in neat order, in rows against each other, which remain 



LOCUSTS. 231 

buried in the ground most carefully, and artificially pro 
tected from the cold of winter. When that is over, 
several male locusts surround and kill her. The eggs 
are brought into life by the heat of the sun. If the 
heats commence early, the locusts early gain strength ; 
and it is then that their depredations are most feared, 
because they commence them before the corn has had 
time to ripen, and they attack the stem when it is still 
tender. .... I conjecture that ' camping in the hedges 
in the cold day' may be explained by the eggs being de- 
posited during the winter ; and ' when the sun ariseth 
they flee away,' may also be illustrated by the flying away 
of the insect as soon as it has felt the ^un's influence." — 
Morier's Second Journey into Persia, pp. 98-101. 

Nothing could be more accurate than this description 
of the grasshoppers. I observed this appearance on a 
journey from Constantinople to Smyrna by land. Earlv 
in the morning, the locusts were seen congregating in 
the bushes by the road side, in a close mass ; which it 
would be difficult to describe in better words than 
" camping in the hedges." They appeared to be assem- 
bled with all che precision of military tactics. But when 
the sun arose they fled away, and their place was not 
known where they were. — Rev. J. Hartlei/s Researches^ 
p. 216. 

Joel i. 4, 12. 

-' That which the palmer- worm hath left, hath the lo- 
cust eaten." 

" The vine is dried up, and the fig-tree languisheth ; 
the pomegranate-tree, the palm-tree also, and the apple- 
tree, even all the trees in the field, are withered." — See 
Exodus X. 12-15. 

- " Joel ii. 2-7, 9, 10. 

" A day of darkness, and of gloominess, a day of 
clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread 
upon the mountains : a great people and a strong ; . . . 
the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and 



232 LOCUSTS, 

behind them a desolate wilderness ; yea, and nothing 
shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the 
appearance of horses ; and as horsemen so shall they 
run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mount 
ains shall they leap ; like the noise of a flame of fire 
that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in 
battle array. Before their face the people shall be much 
pained ; all faces shall gather blackness. They shall run 
like mighty men ; they shall climb the wall like men of 
war ; and they shall march every one on his ways, and 

they shall not break their ranks They shall run 

to and fro in the city ; they shall run upon the wall ; 
they shall climb up upon the houses ; they shall enter in 

at the windows like a thief. The sun and the 

moon shall be dark." 

Revelation ix. 7, 10. 
" And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses 

prepared unto battle ; and they had tails like unto 

scorpions." 

The ravages of the locust on the fields of the Tar- 
tas, is thus described : " Clouds of locusts frequently 
alight on their plains ; and giving the preference to their 
fields of millet, ravage them in an instant. Their ap- 
proach darkens the horizon^ and so enormous is their 
multitude, it hides the light of the sun. When the hus- 
bandmen are sufficiently numerous, they sometimes divert 
the storm, by their agitation and their cries ; but when 
they fail, the locusts alight on their fields, and there 
form a bed of six or seven inches thick. To the noise 
of their flight succeeds that of their devouring activity ; 
it resembles the rattling of hail-stones, hvX its conse- 
quences are infinitely more destructive. Fire itself eats 
not so fast ; nor is there a vestige of vegetation to be 
found, when they again take their flight, and go else- 
where to produce like disasters." — See Harmer's Ob- 
servations, vol. iii., p. 305. 

In Barbary, in the month of June, the locusts are no 



I 



LOCUSTS. 233 

sooner hatched than they collect themselves into com" 
pact bodies, each a furlong or more square ; and marching 
directly after they are come to life, making their way 
toward the sea, and let nothing escape them eating up 
everything that is green or juicy ; not only the lesser 
vegetables, but the vine likewise, the fig-tree, the pome- 
granate, the palm, and the apple-tree, even all the trees 
of the field. 

'^ The quantity of these insects is incredible to all 
who have not themselves witnessed their astonishing 
numbers ; the whole earth is covered with them for the 
space of several leagues. The Jioise they make in 
browsing on the trees and herbage may be heard at a 
great distance, and resembles that of an army in secret. 
Wherever their myriads spread, the verdure disappears ; 
trees and plants, stripped of their leaves and reduced to 
their naked boughs and stems, cause the dreary image 
of winter to succeed in an instant to the rich scenery 
of spring. When these clouds of locusts take their 
flight, the heavens may literally be said to be obscured 
by them. 

" In their progress," says Dr. Shaw, " they kept their 
ranks like men-of-war ; climbing over every tree or wall 
that was in their way. Nay they entered into our very 
houses and bed-chambers, like so many thieves. Every 
effort of the inhabitants to stop them was unavailing ; 
the trenches they had dug were quickly filled up, and 
the fires they had kindled extinguished, by infinite 
swarms succeeding each other." — Notes on Joel ii. in 
the Treasury Bible. 

The direction the locusts take in their flight varies ; 
the prophet who under the similitude of these insects 
described the approach of the Chaldean army, speaks 
of them as coming from the north, ch. ii. 20. Of the 
dreadful effluvia produced by the dead bodies of the 
locusts, we can form no idea. " I have often seen," 
writes a traveller,* " the shores of the Pontus Euxinus 

* The Baron de Tott. See his Memoirs. 
20* 



234 LOCUSTS. 

covered with their dried remains, in such multitudes 
that one could not walk along the strand without sink- 
ing half-leg deep into a bed of these skinny skeletons. 
Curious to know the true cause of their destruction, 1 
sought the moment of observation, and was a witness 
of their ruin by a storm, which overtook them so near 
the shore, that their bodies were cast upon the land, 
while yet entire. This produced an infection so great 
that it was several days before they could be approache.'^ 
Harmer's Observations^ vol iii., pp. 305, 306. 

The form of the locusts is in the Book of Revelation 
compared to that of horses and likewise with the figures 
of lions and scorpions. A remarkable illustration of 
this comparison is found in Neibuhr's description of 
Arabia. " I heard," he observes, " a particular com- 
parison of the locust with other animals, from an Arab 
of the desert, in the neighborhood of Bassorah. As 
the description of the dreadful locusts in the Revelation 
did not occur to me, I at first considered it as a conceit 
of the Bedouin, and paid no attention to it, till another 
made the same similitude at Bagdad. It is the following : 
he compared the head of the locust with the head of a 
horse; the breast with that of a lion, the feet w^ith those 
of a camel, the body with that of a serpent, and the tail 
with that of a scorpion," — Niehuhrs Description de 
VArahie, 

The reason why the approach of the swarms of the 
locusts is compared with the morning spread upon the 
mountains, is pointed out in the following passage of 
Francis Alvarez, a Portuguese monk, in his travels 
through Abyssinia. 

" The day before the arrival of the locusts, v/e could 
presume they were coming, from a yellow reflection in 
the air, which proceeded from their yellow wings. As 
soon as this reflection appeared, nobody doubted that an 
immense swarms of locusts was approaching." On 
another occasion the same writer observes, that he saw 
^* this phenomenon so strong, that the ground assumed a 



LOCUSTS. 235 

yellow tinge from the reflection. The day after there 
came a swarm of locusts, which according to what we 
heard afterward, covered the country for an extent of 
four-and-twenty Portuguese miles." — RosemuUer. 



LOCUSTS IN BARBARY. 

Dr. Shaw gives the following account of the locusts 
which he saw in Barbary in 1724 and 1725. 

They were much bigger than our common grass- 
hoppers, having brown spotted wings, with legs and 
bodies of a bright yellow. Their first appearance was 
toward the latter end of March, the wind having been 
for some time southerly ; and in the middle of April 
their numbers were so vastly increased, that in the heat 
of the day they formed themselves into large bodies, 
appeared like a succession of clouds, and darkened the 
sun. About the middle of May, each of these bodies 
began gradually to disappear, retiring into plains to 
deposite their eggs. Accordingly in the month following 
their young broods began gradually to make their ap- 
pearance, and it was surprising to observe that no sooner 
were any of them hatched, than they immediately col- 
lected themselves together, each of them forming a 
compact body of several hundred yards square, which 
marching afterward .directly forward, climbed over 
trees, walls, and houses, eat up every plant in their way, 
and let nothing escape them. The inhabitants, to stop 
their progress, made trenches all over their fields and 
gardens, and filled them with water ; or else placing in a 
row great quantities of heath, stubble and such like 
combustible matter, they set them on fire upon the 
approach of the locusts ; but all this was to no purpose ; 
for the trenches were quickly filled up, and the fires put 
out by infinite swarms succeeding one another, while 
the front seemed regardless of danger, and the rear 
passed on so close that a retreat was impossible. A day 



236 LOCUSTS IN BARBARY. 

or two after one of these bodies was in motion, others 
were already hatched to glean after them ; gnawing off 
the young branches, and the very bark of such trees as 
had*^escaped before with the loss only of their fruit and 
foliage. So justly has the inspired writer compared 
them to a great army, and observed that the land is as 
the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a 
desolate wilderness. 

Having in this manner lived nearly a month upon the 
ruin and destruction of everything green and juicy, they 
arrived at their full growth, and threw off their worm- 
like state by casting their skins ; to prepare themselves 
for the change, they clung by their hinder feet to some 
bush, twig, or corner of a stone ; when immediately by 
an undulating motion used upon the occasion, their 
heads would first appear, and soon after the rest of their 
bodies. 

The whole transformation was performed in seven or 
eight minutes, after which they lay for a short time in a 
languishing condition ; but as soon as the sun and air 
had hardened their wings, and dried up the moisture 
that remained upon them after the casting of their 
sloughs, they returned again to their former voracity, 
with an addition both of strength and agility. But they 
continued not long in this state before they were entirely 
dispersed, as their parents had been before, after the 
laying of their eggs ; and as the direction of the marches 
and flights of them both vv^as always to the northward, 
it is probable they perished in the sea ; a grave which, 
according to these people, they have only in common 
with other winged creatures. 

These insects, sprinkled with salt and fried, are in 
taste not unlike the river cray-fish. The Jews were 
allowed to eat them, and it was upon these that John 
the Baptist fed in the wilderness. — Dr. Shaw's Travels 
p. 256. 



FLIES. 237 



FLIES. 



2 Kings i. 2. 
" Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron." 

The name Baal-zebub signifies, Lord of the fly ; and 
to this idol the property of driving away flies was attrib- 
uted. Flies in some parts are extremely destructive. 
The army of Richard the First, when in the Floly Land 
rather near Hebron, " were assailed by a most minute 
kind of fly, flying about like sparks. With these the 
whole neighboring region round about was filled. 
These most wretchedly infested the pilgrims, piercing 
with great smartness the hands, necks, throats, fore- 
heads, and faces, and every part of the body that was 
uncovered ; a most violent burning tumor following the 
punctures made by them, so that all that they stung 
looked like lepers. They could hardly guard themselves 
from this most troublesome vexation, by covering their 
heads and necks with veils. — See Harjner's Observa- 
tions^ vol. iii., p. 310. 

LOCUST-TREE. 

Luke xv. 16. 
* And he would fain have filled his belly with the 
husks that the swine did eat." 

The locust-tree is a bushy, wide-spreading evergreen, 
which attains the size of a forest-tree, and produces a 
pod resembling a gigantic kidney-bean. This is of a 
sweet flavor, and when dressed by the Moors makes a 
dish by no means unpleasant to the taste. It is, how- 
ever, both in Barbary and Spain, more generally used 
for feeding cattle. These pods are supposed to be 
alluded to in the parable of the prodigal son, " the husks 
that the swine did eat." — See Brooke's Travels in 
Spain, SfC, 



238 



SALT. 



SALT. 

Mark ix. 50. 
" Have salt in yourselves." 

In the interior countries of Africa the greatest luxury 
is salt : a child there sucks a piece of rock-salt as if it 
were sugar. The poorer classes of the inhabitants are, 
however, so very rarely indulged with this precious 
article that to say a man eats salt with his food, is the 
same as saying he is a rich man. The long use of 
vegetable food creates so painful a longing for salt, that 
no words can sufficiently describe it. — Parkas Travels- 




239 



CHAPTER XV. 



Climate— Effect of Moonlight— Heat and Coid-«-Fro&t and Snow 
— ^Hail-Storms — Wet Seasons — Rains — Signs of Rain — Dry 
Summer— The Simoom— Water-Spouts— Whirlwinds. 

MOONLIGHT. 

Psalm cxxi. 6. 
" The Sim shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon 
by night." 

The burning heat of the sun in Eastern climates is 
well known ; but the injurious effect of moonlight is not 
so generally thought of. 

Moonlight in the East is peculiarly clear and lovely. 
A traveller in Egypt says : " It is delightful to rise by 
night and walk there in the brilliant moonlight, which 
has the appearance of a tranquil and beautiful day — 
you can see to read with perfect ease." Speaking of his 
voyage down the Nile, the same gentleman remarks : 
"Nothing could be more lovely than to glide along at 
night in the calm, cloudless moonlight — amid such 
scenery it was difhcult to close one's eyes in sleep." 
But delightful as it is, it is most prejudicial to those 
who venture to repose in the open air, without covering 
their faces. Thus the same traveller continues : " The 
effect of the moonlight on the eyes in this country is 
singularly injurious; the natives tell you, as I found 
they also afterward did in Arabia, always to cover your 
eyes when you sleep in the open air. The moon here 
really strikes and affects the sight, more than the sun, 
when you sleep exposed to it ; a fact of which I had a 
very unpleasant proof one night, and took care to guard 
against afterward. Indeed the sight of a person who 



240 MOONLIGHT. 

should sleep with his face exposed at night would soon 
be utterly impaired or destroyed." — Game's Eastern 
L&Uers,ipip, 77-83. 

HEAT AND COLD. 

Genesis xxxi. 40. 
" In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost 
oy night." 

The spring and summer nights are so cold in the 
Holy Land, that fires are occasionally necessary, even 
in May : which accounts for the people who went to 
Gethsemane to apprehend our Lord, making a fire of 
coals at the time of the passover, earlier in the year 
than May. A traveller mentions sitting by a fire in a 
little ruined building somewhere in Galilee, on the night 
of May 8th ; and in May, .Tune, and even July, furred 
garments are frequently worn in the evenings by trav- 
ellers in the East. It is also very common for dayy 
intensely hot, to be followed by as cold nights. Mr. 
Biddulph, chaplain to the English factory at Aleppo, 
• expressed surprise at finding the weather so v/arm at 
Jerusalem, at the same time of the year that he was 
there, when those who had been out in the night to seize 
our Lord wanted a fire. It seemed strange to him that 
Peter should have crept to the fire, when he could not 
endure the heat of the sun. But after being there a 
few days, and feeling the changes from heat to cold 
which constantly occur, his wonder ceased. Another 
traveller, passing through Mesopotamia (where Jacob 
was), found the heat so oppressive, that though he wore 
upon his head a great black handkerchief, after the 
manner of Eastern travellers, yet his forehead was so 
scorched as to swell exceedingly, and the skin came off. 
His hands, too, were continually scorched. Another 
records that, having travelled in Arabia and Mesopo- 
tamia, both in winter and summer, he had found the 



HEAT AND COLD. 241 

truth of what the patriarch said, that in the day he was 
scorched with heat, and stiffened with cold in the night. 
— See Harmer's Observations, vol. i., pp. 125, note, 
131-134, 181 ; and Appendix to Camels East em Let- 
ters. 



FROST AND SNOW. 

Psalm cxlvii. 16, 17. 
" He giveth snow like wool, he scattereth the hoar- 
frost like ashes ; he casteth forth his ice like morsels : 
who can stand before his cold ?" See Ezra x. 9 ; Matt, 
xxiv. 20. 

The frost and snow are in some winters very severe 
in Jerusalem, and other parts of Judea, and rain and 
snow fall sometimes in great quantities. When King 
Richard was approaching Jerusalem with his army in 
the winter (during his war against the Saracens), we 
read that " Most heavy rains fell, and the air was very 
severe, so that very many of their beasts perished ; that 
the rains, storms of hail, and winds, were so vehement, 
that the stakes of their tents were torn up, and carried 
to a distance ; and that by the extremity of the cold and 
wet their horses perished, and the greater part of their 
food was spoiled." The snow in some Eastern countries 
falls in flakes as big as walnuts, and in the mountainous 
district? of Arabia by the Dead sea, there have been 
dreadful storms of hail, snow, and rain, and also quan- 
tities of ice, so that David might well say, " he giveth 
his snow like wool, he scattereth *the hoar-frost like 
ashes ; he casteth forth his ice like morsels : who can 
stand before his cold ?" 

In an ancient account of the defeat of some Turkish 
troops in the neighborhood of Askalon, during the 
winter, it is said, " They for haste threw away their 
armor and cloths, but so sunk under the cold, with 

21 



242 FROST AND SNOW. 

want of food, tedioiisiiess of the ways, and greatness of 
tlie fatigue, that they were daily taken captives in the 
woods, mountains, and wilderness, and sometimes threw 
themselves in the way of their enemies, rather than 
perish through cold and want." What a striking com- 
ment upon our Savior's words : " Pray ye that your 
flight be not in the winter /" — Harmer^s Observations 
vol. L, pp. 111-114, note, 119, 120. 

EzEKiEL xxxiii. 30. 
" The children of thy people still are talkir.^ against 
thee [rather concerning thee] by the walls, and in the 
doors of the houses." 

.Severe, however, as the cold is in these countries, 
yet even in the depth of winter v/hen the sun is out, 
and there is no wind, it is always warm in the open air, 
and the people enjoy it ; the Coptics spending their holy- 
days in sauntering about, sitting under walls in winter, 
and under shady trees in summer ; while the better sort 
of Eastern houses have porches or gateways, with 
benches on each side, where the master of the family 
receives visits, and transacts business ; and as it was 
winter, the tenth month, answering to the latter end of 
December, when the Israelites talked about Ezekiel, 
they sat under the wall for the benefit of the sun, 
rather than under trees to avoid its heat ; while the 
richer among them sat in their porches, or gateways, in 
one of which an English traveller found a distinguished 
person sitting (in Egypt), the 29th or 30th of December 
— Rarmer^s Observations, vol. i., pp. 120-122. 



HAIL-STORMS. 

Exodus ix. 23-25. 
" And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven ; 
and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran 



HAIL-STORMS. 



243 



along the ground : and the Lord rained hail upon the 
land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire mingled 
with the hail, very grievous .... And the hail smote 
throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the 
field, both man and beast : and the hail smote every herb 
of the field, and brake every tree of the field. See 
Psalm cv. 32 ; Ixxviii. 47, 48. 

Joshua x. 11. 
" The Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon 
them unto Azekah, and they died ; they were more 
which died with hail-stones, than they whom the children 
of Israel slew with tl^p sword." 




^'"^^^ 



*' On the 8th of February," says Sir R. Wilson, in 
his History of the Expeditio?i to Egypt, " commenced 
the most violent thunder and hailstorm ever remem- 
bered, and which continued two davs and nights inter- 



Zii HAIL-STORMS. 

mittingly. The hail, or rather the ice-stones, were as 
big as large walnuts." 

Diodorus Siculus mentions a storm of hail which 
happened at Rhodes in the spring of the year 316 
before Christ, when the hailstones were upward of a 
pound in weight, and the houses were thrown down by 
the weight of them. — Note, Dr, darkens Travels, vol. 
iii., p. 347. 

WET SEASONS. 

Job xxix. 2, 4, 19,20. 
" Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days 
when God preserved me ; as I was in the days of my 
youth! (rather of my winter). My root was spread 
out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon m.y 
branch ; my glory was fresh in me." 

The Hebrew word which is here rendered winte?, 
seems rather to mean, the wet season ; for as the sum- 
mers of the Holy Land ar6 perfectly dry, its winters 
are wet. Job refers to the days of his moist time, not 
to the days of his disgrace, the days in which he was 
stripped of his ornaments, as an herb of its leaves and 
flowers in winter but when he was like a plant in the 
latter part of the rainy season (before the violent heals 
and drought of summer scorched and burnt up every- 
thing), green and flourishing. — Harmer^s Observations, 
vol.i., p. 107. 

RAINS. 

Luke vi. 49. 
" But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a mail 
ihat without a foundation built a house upon the earth 
against which the stream did beat vehemently, and im- 
mediately it fell ; and the ruin of that house was great.'' 



RAINS. 24£ 

Though the returns of rain in the Holy Land are 
not extremely frequent, yet when it does rain, the water 
is wont to pour down with great violence three or four 
days and nights together, enough to drown the whole 
country. Such violent rains, in a hilly country espe- 
cially, like Judea, must occasion inundations very dan- 
gerous to buildings that happen to be placed within their 
reach, by washing away the soil from under them, and 
occasioning their fall. The violent rains at Aleppo in 
Syria often wash down stone- walls ; and in the Cas- 
travan mountains, a hamlet with fig-garden, &c., was 
suddenly removed to a great distance. Maundrell 
actually saw the tracts of several torrents, down the 
side of the hills of the Holy Land. He also describes 
that country as extremely hilly, but as covered fre- 
quently with a thin coat of earth, circumstances which 
complete the illustration of our Savior's words, and 
teach us how to understand building on the sand, or 
loose soil ; and the wise man's digging down to the 
rock, before he laid his foundation. — Harmer^s Obser- 
vations, \o\. i., pp. 137-140. 

EARLY AND LATTER RAINS. 

Joel ii. 23. 
" Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in 
the Lord your God ; for he hath given you the former 
rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you 
the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain." 

Proverbs xvi. 15. 
" [The king's favor] is as a cloud of the latter rain." 

Deuteronomy xi. 13, 14. 

" And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken dili- 
gently unto my commandments, . . , . that I will give 
you the rain o^ your land in his due season, the first 
rain, and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy 
corn, and thy wine, and thine oil." 
21* 



246 EARLY AND LATTER RAINS. 

HosEA vi. 3. 
" He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and 
former rain unto the earth." 

Amos iv. 7, 8. 
" Also I have withholden the rain from you when 
there were yet three months to the harvest : and I caused 
it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon 
another city. One piece was rained upon, and the piece 
whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three 
cities wandered unto one city, to drink water, but they 
were not satisfied." 

Where the rain falls as it does with us, there is no 
notion of early and latter rains ; but nothing is more 
natural than this distinction in such a country as Pales- 
tine, where the summer's drought is terminated by heavy 
showers, continuing some days ; after which there is an 
interval of fine weather, and then showers fall again ; 
and these probably are the latter rains mentioned in 
Scripture. The early ox former rains in the Holy Land 
fall about the middle of October, or the beginning of 
November. The seed-time, the latter rains in April. If 
the latter rains fall in the middle of April (says Dr. 
Shaw), the crop is reckoned secure. 

Beside the rains of April, there are also those ol 
the beginning of February, and to these latter the proph- 
et Amos appears to allude. From them are derived the 
hopes of a plentiful year, for ''It is an observation," 
writes Dr. Shaw, " at or near Jerusalem, that provided 
a moderate quantity of snow, or rain, falls in the begin- 
ning of February, and the fountains overflow a little 
afterward, there is the prospect of a fruitful and plen- 
tiful year : the inhabitants making, upon these occasions, 
the like rejoicings with the Egyptians upon the cutting 
of the Nile." ^^^ ^ ^ 

The harvest at Aleppo in Syria follows in three 
months after these rains of February, the withholding 



EARLY AND LATTER RAINS. 247 

of which the prophet speaks of as a signal judgment ; 
and he declares further, that the rain was suspended 
not only to punish them with want of bread, but with 
thirst also ; for in these countries, excepting a few 
fountains, they have only cistern water, so that if God 
in anger suspended the rains, there was more danger of 
perishing by thirst, than by famine. On the other hand, 
God promises to give the former and the latter rains to 
his obedient children, as the greatest of temporal bles- 
sings, " that ye may gather in your corn, and your wine^ 
and your oil ; that ye may eat and be full." (Deut„ 
xi. 14.) He even likens the blessings of his grace to 
this blessing of his providence, assuring his people that 
if they would seek his face, he would come unto them 
as the " latter and former rain unto the earth.'''' — Harmer's 
Observations, vol. i., pp. 140-150. 



SIGNS OF RAIN. 

2 Kings iii. 17. 

" Ye shall not see wind^ neither shall ye see rain.'^ 

1 Kings xviii. 45. 

" The heaven was black with clouds and wind, and 
there was a great rain." 

Proverbs xxv. 14. 
*' Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift [pretends 
he will bestow a gift and does not do so] is like clouds 
and winds without rain." 

Psalm cxxxv. 7 ; Jeremiah x. 13. 
'* He causeth the vapors [clouds] to ascend from the 
ends of the earth ; he maketh lightnings for the rain ; 
he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries. When he 
uttereth his voice, there is a multitude "^ of waters in 
the heavens " 

* Or noise, see margin. 



248 SIGNS OF RAIN. 

1 Kings xviii. 44, 45. 
"And it came to pass at the seventli time, that he 
said, Behold there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, 
like a man's hand. And he said, ' Go up, say unto 
Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the 
rain stop thee not.' And it came to pass in the mean- 
time, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, 
and there was a great rain." 

Ra.in in the East is often preceded by squalls of 
wind, which take up such quantities of sand from the 
desert as quite darken the sky. In the city of Aleppo, 
in Syria, seldom a night passes during the month of 
September, without much lightning in the northwest 
quarter ; but not attended with thunder. When this 
lightning appears in the west, or southwest, it is accom- 
panied with thunder, and is a sure sign of approaching 
rain. Thus does God make lightnings for the rain ; 
the squalls of wind bring on these refreshing showers ; 
and are therefore called precious things of the treasuries 
of God ; and when he thunders, it is the noise of loaters 
in the heavens. With respect to the cloud Elijah saw, 
it is mentioned by Mr. Bruce in his Travels, when he 
says : " Every morning about nine, a small cloud, not 
above four feet broad, appears in the East, whirling 
violently round, as if upon an axis ; but w^hen arrived 
nearly over head, it first abates its motion, then loses its 
form, and extends itself greatly, and seems to call up 
vapors from all opposite quarters. These clouds having 
attained nearly the same height, rush against each other 
with great violence, and put me always in mind of Elijah 
foretelling rain on Mount Carmel." 

A clergyman in Suffolk '^ saw a cloud like a man^s 
hand, on a high hill at Beachborough, in Kent, and im- 
mediately a violent shower followed." 

Dr. Adam Clarke writes, '* I have often seen this 
repeated several times a day in the English channel 
A cloud, about the size of a mavUs hand, first appeared , 



SIGNS OF RAIN. 249 

this gradually increased till the whole heavens wer* 
i^ohed in hlack, and a dreadful storm ensued. When all 
again seemed comparatively clear, the appearance of the 
hand-like cloud was the sure forerunner of another 
storm." — Harmer^s Observations^ vol. i., pp.160, 173, 
174; 101, note. 

ECCLESIASTES xi. 4. 

" He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he 
that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.'' 

Ploughing and sowing were sometimes practised iii 
the East in expectation of rain. It was therefore natural 
for the laborer to wait till he saw the signs of its 
approach, particularly the blowing of the wind that was 
wont to bring it. — Harmer's Observations, vol. i., p. 
97. 

DRY SUMMERS. 

Psalm xxxii. 4. 
" My moisture is turned into the drought of summer." 

In England and in its neighboring countries it is 
common for rain to fall in all months of the year. But 
111 the East, rain indiscriminately in the winter months, 
and none at all in the summer, is what is most usual. 
In Judea, thunder and lightning, which generally occur 
with us in summer, happen in winter ; when also the 
rains, after they begin to fall, pour down for three or 
four days and nights together as vehemently as if they 
would drown the country. On the other hand, in 
summer it hardly ever rains, and it is to the withered 
appearance which nature then wears, that David refers 
when he says, " My moisture is turned into the drought 
of summer." — See Harmer'^s Observations, vol i., p 
75. 



250 THE SIMOOM. 

THE SIMOOM. 

Isaiah xxi. 1. 

'* As whirlwinds in the south pass through ; so it com- 
rth from the desert, from a terrible land." 

Proverbs i. 27. 
'• When your destruction cometh as a whirlwind." 

Isaiah xxxvii. 36, 
" The angel [messenger or agent] of the Lord went 
forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hun- 
dred and fourscore and five thousand." 

Whirlwinds usually arise from the south, and the 
more southern countries in the East are most liable to 
them. A traveller, giving an account of the danger 
there is of losing one's way in the deserts between 
Egypt and Nubia, writes, " It is infinitely greater when 
the south wind blows." It dries up the goat-skins filled 
with water, stifles on the spot those who breathe in it ; 
so that to guard against its defects, they are obliged to 
throw themselves on the ground instantly, with their 
face close to the burning sands, and to cover their heads 
with some cloth or carpet, lest they should breathe the 
wind, and perish. 

Sometimes, too, it raises up large quantities of sand 
with a whirling motion, vv/hich darkening the eye, renders 
it impossible for the guides to perceive the way, so that 
whole caravans have been buried beneath ic. The 
catnels alone give notice of its approach, by making a 
noise, and burying their mouth and nostrils in the 
sand, and whoever imitates them escapes destruction. 
Mr. Bruce thus describes this pestilential wind, which 
is called " the simoom." " We had no sooner got into 
the plains, than we felt great symptoms of the simoom, 
and about a quarter before twelve, our prisoner first, 
and then Idris, called out ' The simoom ! the simoom I' 



THE SIMOOM. 



iol 



My curiosity made me look behind me ; about due souths 
a little to the east, I saw the colored haze as before. 
It seemed now to be rather less compressed, and to have 
with it a shade of blue : the edges of it were like a very 




thin smoke. We all fell on our faces, and the simoom 
passed with a gentle ruffling wind. It continued to blow 
thus till nearly three o'clock : so that we were all taken 
ill that night, and strength was hardly left us to load 



252 ' THE SIMOOM. 

the camels and arrange the baggage." The army of 
Sennacherib was doubtless destroyed by such a pesti- 
lential wind. It is often instantaneously fatal, and the 
word " angel" is expressly called in the original in verse 
7, a hlast^ or wind. — Harmer^s Observations, vol. i., pp. 
152-165 ; Bruce^s Travels. 



2 Kings xix. 26. 
" They were .... as corn blasted before it be grown 
up." 

Psalm ciii. 16. 
'* The wind passeth over it [the grass] and it is gone.'" 

We remained encamped at Bushire (writes Morier), 
until the 27th of March, during which time we expe- 
rienced one of the discomforts of a tented life, in a gale 
of wind that blew from the southward and eastward 
with such violence, that three of our largest tents were 
levelled with the ground. The wind brought with it 
such hot currents of air, that we thought it might be 
the precursor of the " samoun" (simoom) ; but upon 
inquiry, we found that the autumn was generally the 
season for that wind. The " sam" wind commits great 
ravages in this district, and is hurtful to vegetation. It 
blows at night, from about midnight to sunrise, and 
comes in a hot blast, and is afterward succeeded by a 
cold one. About six years ago there was a " sam'' 
during the summer months, which so totally burnt up 
all the corn, then near its maturity, that no animal 
would eat a blade of it, or touch any of its grain. The 
image of corn blasted before it be grown up, used by 
the sacred historian, was most probably taken from a 
cause similar to what has just been stated, and the 
allusion is also perhaps to the pestilential wind, when 
the prophet says in [the same chapter] "I will send a 



THE SIMOOM. 253 

blast upon him. h\ the Psalms, we read of the vni^, 
that passeth over the grass, and it is gi)XiPi. — See Mi>- 
rier's Second Journey through Persia, ^c, pp. 42, 4-3. 



WATER-SPOUTS. 

Psalm xlii. 7. 
" Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy water- 
spouts ; all thy waves and thv billows ha^e gone over 
me." 

The following is an account of the first water-spout 
seen by the Spaniards on the coast of America : — 

" The sea ran in mountain-waves, covered with foam. 
For a day and a night the heavens glowed like a furnace, 
with incessant flashes of lightning : while the loud claps 
of thunder were often mistaken by the mariners for 
signal guns of distress from their foundering companions. 
During the whole time there was such a deluge of rain, 
that the seamen were almost overwhelmed. In the 
midst of this wild tumult of the elements, they beheld a 
new object of alarm. The ocean in one place became 
strangely agitated ; the water was whirled up into a kind 
of pyramid, or cone, while a livid cloud tapering to a 
point, bent down to meet it. Joining together, they 
formed a column, which rapidly approached the ships, 
spinning along the surface of the deep, and drawing up 
the waters with a rushing sound. The water-spout 
passed close by the ships without injuring them. — Life 
of Columbus. 

On the afternoon of June 21, 1702, about two o'clock, 
at Hatfield, no wind stirring below, though it was some- 
what great in the air, the clouds began to be much 
agitated and driven together ; on which they became very 
black, and were very visibly hurried round, whence 
there proceeded a most audible whirling noise, like that 
of a mill. After a while a long tube or spout came 

n 



254 



WATER-SPOUTS. 



down from the centre of the congregated clouds, in 
which was a swift spiral motion like that of a screw, 
when it is ni motion. It proceeded slowly from west 
to northeast, broke down a great oak-tree or two, 
frightened the weeders out of the field, and made others 
lie down flat, to avoid being whirled about and killed, as 
they saw several jackdaws had been, which were sudden- 
ly snatched up, carried out of sight, and then thrown a 
great way off among the corn. At length it passed 




over the town of Hatfield to the great terror of the 
inhabitants, filling the whole air with the thatch it took 
off from some of the houses ; then touching on a corner 
of the church, it tore up several sheets of lead, .and 
rolled them together in a strange manner ; soon after 
which, it dissolved and vanished, without doing any 
further mischief. — Clarke's Readings in Philosophy, 



WHIRLWINDS. 



255 



WHIRLWINDS. 

Isaiah xl. 24. 
" The whirlwind shall take them away as stubble." 

Isaiah xvii. 13. 
" God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, 
and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before 
the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind." 




Psalm Ixxxiii. 14. 

" Oh, my God, make them like a wheel ; as the stubble 
before the wind." 

'' While we were encamped at the village of Has- 
sanabad," writes Mr. Morier, " a violent wind arose 



256 WHIRLWINDS. 

from the eastward. It prevailed from the morning to 
about two o'clock, P. M., when it changed about to the 
westward. At the time of the change, whirlwinds were 
to be seen in different parts of the plain, sweeping along 
the country in different directions, in a manner that was 
quite frightful to behold. They carried away in their 
vortex, sand, branches, and the stubble of the fields, 
and really appeared to make a communication between 
the earth and the clouds. The correctness of the 
imagery used by the prophet Isaiah, when he alludes to 
this phenomenon, is very striking to the Eastern travel- 
ler ; and when we read in the Psalms, ' Make them like 
a wheel, as the stubble before the wind ;' this also is 
happily illustrated by the rotary action of the whirlwind, 
which frequently impels a bit of stubble over a waste, 
just like a wheel set in rapid motion." — Morier's Second 
Journey through Persia, <^c., p. 202. 



257 




CHAPTER XVL 

Modem Tartars — Predatory Character of the Arabs — their 
Mode of dwelling and of flight — Bedouin Encampment — 
Arabs. 

TARTARS. 

Habakktjk i. 8. 
*' Their horses also are swifter than the leopards and' 
are more fierce than the evening wolves ; and their 
horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen 
shall come from far ; they shall fly as the eagle that 
hasteth to eat." 

The manner in which the modern Tartars pillage and 
destroy, may illustrate these words, which are descrip- 
tive of the devastations of the Chaldeans. 

22^ 



258 TARTARS. 

'' It was decided," writes one who was present in the 
Tartar army on a particular occasion, "that one third 
of the army should pass the river at midnight, divide 
into several columns, subdivide successively, and thus 
overspread New^ Servia, burn the villages, corn, and 
fodder, and carry off the inhabitants and cattle. The 
rest of the army marched until it came to the beaten 
track in the snow, made by the detachment. This we 
followed until we arrived at the place where it divided 
into seven branches, to the left of which we constantly 
kept, observing never to mingle or confuse ourselves 
with any of the subdivisions, which we successively 
found, and some of which were only small paths, traced 
by one or two horsemen. 

" Flocks were found, frozen to death, on the plain : and 
twenty columns of smoke, already rising in the horizon, 
completed the horrors of the scene, and announced the 
fires which laid waste New Servia. The care, the 
patience, the extreme activity, with which the Tartars 
preserve their booty, are scarcely credible. All re- 
searches after the inhabitants of Adjemka were useless, 
until the second day, when at the moment of departure, 
the ricks of corn and forage which concealed the poor 
people were set on fire. Then it was that they came 
and cast themselves into the arms of their enemies to 
escape the flames which devoured their harvests and 
their homes. The order to burn Adjemka was executed 
so suddenly, and the blaze caught the thatched houses 
with so much violence and rapidity, that we ourselves, 
at leaving it, were obliged to pass through the flames. 
The atmosphere was loaded with ashes ; and the vapor 
of melted snow, which, after having darkened the sun for 
a time, united and formed a gray snow, that crackled 
between our teeth. A hundred and fifty villages, burnt 
in like manner, sent forth their ashes twenty leagues 
into Poland." 

Since then the Chaldeans resembled in their destructive 
marches these Tartars, well might the prophet describe 



TARTARS 259 

them as a " bitter and hasty [or swift] nation, which 
shall march through the breadth of the land ;" as " ter- 
rible and dreadful ;" " supping up [consuming] as the 
east wind, and gathering the captivity [captives] as the 
sand." Well might he " tremble" at their coming, and 
express the devastation which should follow by " the 
flocks being cut off from the fold, and there being no 
herd in the stalls." See Habakkuk i. 6-9 ; iii. 16-18.— 
Baron de Tott^s Memoirs \ see Harmer'^s Observations^ 
vol. iii., pp. 414-418. 



DEPREDATIONS OF THE ARABS. 

Proverbs xvii. 19. 
" He that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction." 

Here is an evident allusion to the attacks made by 
the Arabs, who are accustomed, when they find the 
doorways large enough, to ride into the houses of those 
whom they mean to plunder. To hinder them from so 
doing, a traveller tells us, that the door of the house in 
which the French merchants lived at Rama, was not 
three feet high, and that all the doorways in the town 
are equally low. Another, referring to his entrance into 
a monastery near Jerusalem, says : " The passage is so 
low that it will scarcely admit a horse ; and it is shut by 
a gate of iron strongly secured in the inside. As soon 
as we entered, it was again made fast with various bolts 
and bars of iron ; a precaution extremely necessary in a 
desert place, exposed to the incursions of the Arabs." 
To this oppressive practice, which is not confined to the 
Arabs, Zephaniah refers ch. i., 8, 9 : "I will punish the 
princes, and all such as are clothed with strange 
apparel" (which does not belong to them), and adds 
that " in the same day he will punish all those that leap 
on the threshold, which fill their master's houses with 



260 DEPREDATIONS OF THE ARABS. 

violence and deceit," which passage may be thus ex- 
plained : " I will punish those who wear the apparel 
which by violence and deceit their servants have brought 
them." — Thevenot ; Harmer's Observations^ vol i., pp. 
217-220. 

Jeremiah iii. 2. 
" In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian 
in the wilderness." 

The Arabs wait for caravans with the most violent 
avidity, looking about them on all sides, raising them- 
selves up on their horses, running here and there to see 
if they cannot perceive any smoke, or dust, or tracks on 
the ground, or any other marks of people passing along. 
— Sir J. Chardin ; Hariner^s Observations, vol. i., p. 
217. 

THEIR MODE OF DWELLING, Etc. 

Jeremiah xlix. 8, 30. 
" Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of 
Dedan. Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhab- 
itants of Hazor." 

This dwelling deep refers probably to the customs of 
the Arabs, who plunge far into the deserts on the 
approach of an enemy, as well as to their sometimes 
dwelling in grottoes during the winter. 

The people of Hazor and Dedan evidently lived in 
tents, like the Bedouin Arabs ; for they are described 
(at least the inhabitants of Hazor) as a " nation that 
dwelleth without care, which have neither gates nor bars, 
which dwell alone" (see v. 31). The prophet there- 
fore bids them to flee into the deserts, and dwell deep 
therein for security. Of one tribe of Arabs in par- 
ticular, it is observed by Niebuhr, that when the pacha 
of Bagdad sends troops against them, they retire, as 
soon as they receive the intelligence, to the bottom of 



THEIR MODE OF DWELLING, ETC. 



26i 



the desert^ whither their pursuers dare not follow them. 
And Mr. Savary, in speaking of the wandering Arahs, 
says : " Always on their guard against tyranny, on the 
least discontent that is given them, they pack up their 
tents, lade their camels with them, ravage the flat 
country, and, laden with plunder, plunge into the burn- 
ing sands, whither none can pursue them, and where 
they alone dare dwell. — Harmer^s Observations, vol. i.. 
pp. 222-225. 




IsAiA^H Ixiii. 13, 14. 
" That led them through the deep, as a horse in the 
wilderness, that they should not stumble. As a beast 
goeth down into the valley, the spirit of the Lord 
caused him to rest : so didst thou lead thy people, to 
make thyself a glorious name." 

The word horse, here signifies not a single horse, 



262 THEIR MANNER OF FLIGHT. 

but cavalry ; and the allusion is to the Arab horses, who 
are remarkable for their swiftness in carrying their 
masters out of the reach of their pursuers in the wil- 
derness 

The great emir of Mount Carmel had a horse which he 
would not have parted with for five thousand crowns, it 
having carried him three days and three nights together, 
without eating or drinking, and by this means delivered 
him out of the hands of those that pursued after him. 

The words, " beast goeth down into the valley," may 
be rendered " as the herd goeth down," &c. When the 
Arabs of Barbary want to lie concealed, they choose 
woods and valleys to live in ; and La Roque informs us, 
that the Arabs, upon any alarm decamp in two hours' 
time, with their herds, flocks, and families, and plunge 
mto the deserts. Here they choose some retired vale 
in which to remain secure. 

Thus had God led his people in safety through the 
Red sea, and preserved them from the pursuit of 
Pharaoh, even as the horse in the wilderness bear their 
riders far from their enemies ; and even, so as a herd 
rests in safety in the valley wherein it is sheltered from 
all fear of intruders, so had the Lord made Israel to rest 
beneath the shadow of his wings. — See Harmer's Ohser 
vations, vol. i., pp. 229-237. 



BEDOUIN ENCAMPMENT. 

On his road to Gaza, Mr. Stephens mentions having 
come to a Bedouin encampment in one of the " most 
singular and interesting spots" he had ever seen, " We 
were climbing," he writes, " up the side of a mountain, 
and saw on a little point on the very summit the figure 
of an Arab, kneeling in evening prayer. He had 
finished his devoticins, and was sitting on the rock when 
we approached, and found that he had literally been 
praying on his house-top, for his habitation was in the 



BEDOUIN ENCAMPMENT. 263 

rock beneath. Like almost every old man one meets io 
the East, he looked exactly the patriarch of the imagin. 
ation, and precisely as we would paint Abraham, Isaac, 
or Jacob. He rose as we approached, and gave us the 
usual Bedouin invitation to stop and pass the night with 
him ; and, leading us a few paces to the brink of the 
mountain, he showed us in the valley below the village 
of his tribe. 

The valley began at the foot of the elevation on 
which we stood, and lay between ranges of broken and 
overhanging rocks, a smooth and beautiful table of 
green, for perhaps a quarter of a mile, and beyond that 
distance broke off and expanded into an extensive 
meadow. The whole of this valley, down to the mead- 
ow, was filled with flocks of sheep and goats ; and, for 
the first time since I left the banks of the Nile, I saw a 

herd of cows But where were the dvi^ellings of 

the pastors, the tents in which dwelt the shepherds of 
these flocks and herds ? In Egypt I had seen the Arabs 
living in tombs, and among the ruins of temples ; in 
the desert I had seen them dwelling in tents ; but I had 
never yet seen them making their habitations in the 
rude crevices of the rocks. Such, however, were their 
habitations here. The roclvs in many places were over- 
hanging ; in others there were chasms or fissures ;^ and 
wherever there was anything that could afford a partial 
protection from the weather on one side, a low, rough, 
circular wall of stone was built in front of it, and 
. formed the abode of a large family. Within the small 
enclosure in front, the women were sitting winnowing 
or grinding grain, or rather pounding and rubbing it 
between two stones, in the same primitive manner prac- 
tised of old, in the days of the patriarchs. We de- 
scended and pitched our tents in the middle of the 
valleyo The habitations in the crevices of the rocks, 
bad as they would be considered anywhere else, I found 
much more comfortable than most of the huts of the 
Egyptians on the banks of the Nile, or the rude tents 



264 BEDOUIN ENCAMPMENT. 

of the Bedouins. It was not sheer poverty that drov^e 
these shepherds to take sheUer in the rocks, for they 
were a tribe more than three hundred strong, and had 
flocks and herds such as are seldom seen among the 
Bedouins ; and they were far better clad, and had the 

appearance of being better fed than my companions 

In the evening the men and women* came up, one after 
another, with their crooks in their hands, and their 
well-trained dogs, driving before them their several 
flocks. Some entered the little enclosures before their 
rude habitations; but many destitute of even this 
miserable shelter, slept outside in the open valley, with 
their flocks around them, and their dogs by their side. 
.... In the evening we seated ourselves round a large 
bowl of cracked corn and milk, so thick as to be taken 
with the hands, unaided by a spoon or ladle, followed 
by smoking stewed kid ; and after this exercise of hos- 
pitality to the strangers, some withdrew to their rocky 
dwellings, others laid themselves down around the fire, 
and I retired to my tent. All night I heard from every 
part of the valley the lowing of cattle, the bleating of 
lambs and goats, and the loud barking of the watch-dog 
Early in the morning, while the stars were yet in the 
sky, I was up and out of my tent. The flocks were 
still quiet, and the shepherds and shepherdesses were 
still sleeping with the bare earth for their bed, and the 
canopy of heaven their only covering. One after the 
other they awoke ; and as the day was breaking, they 
were milking the cows and goats, and at broad daylight 
they were again moving, with their crooks and dogs, to 
the pasture-ground at the foot of the valley. — Incidents 
of Travel, vol. ii., pp. 127-132. 



ARABS. 

In his account of his journey to Mount Sinai, the 
ime traveller writes : " We were moving along a broad 



^ See Genesis xxix. 1-10. 



ARABS. 265 

valley bounded by ranges of lofty and crumbling 
mountains, forming an immense rocky rampart on each 
side of us ; and rocky and barren as these mountains 
seemed, on their tops were gardens which produced 
oranges, dates, and figs, in great abundance. Here, on 
heights almost inaccessible to any but the children of 
the desert, the Bedouin pitches his tent, pastures his 
sheep and goats, and gains the slender subsistence 
necessary for himself and his family ; and often, looking 
up the bare side of the mountain, we could see on its 
summit's edge the wild figure of a half-naked Arab, 
with his long matchlock gun in his hand, watching the 
movement of our little caravan. Sometimes, too, a 
woman was seen stealing across the valley, not a trav- 
eller or a passer-by, but a dweller in the land where no 
smoke curled from the domestic hearth, and no sign of a 

habitation was perceptible Not far from the track 

we saw, hanging on a thorn-bush, the black cloth of a 
Bedouin's tent, with the pole-ropes, pegs, and everything 
necessary to convert it into a habitation for a family. It 
had been there six months ; the owner had gone to a new 
pasture-ground, and there it had hung, and there it would 
hang, sacred and untouched, until he returned to claim it. 
' It belongs to one of our tribe, and cursed be the hand 
that touches it' is the feeling of every Bedouin. Un- 
counted gold might be exposed in the same way ; and 
the poorest Bedouin, though a robber by birth and 
profession, would pass by, and touch it not. On the 
very summit of the mountain, apparently ensconced 
behind it as a wall, his body not more than half visible, 
a Bedouin was looking down upon us ; and one of my 
party, who had long kept his face turned that way, told 
me that there was the tent of his father. I talked with 
him about his kindred and his mountain home, not ex- 
pecting, however, to discover anything of extraordinary 
interest or novelty. The sons of Ishmael have ever 
been the same inhabitants of the desert, despising the 
dv/ellers under a roof, wanderers and wild men from 

23 



266 ARABS. 

their birth, with their hands against every man, and 
every man's hand against them. ' There is blood be- 
tween us,' says the Bedouin, when he meets in the desert 
one of a tribe, by some individual of which an ancestor 
of his own was killed, perhaps a hundred years before. 
And then they draw their swords, and a new account of 
blood is opened, to be handed down as a legacy to their 
children. ' The desert is ours' (says the Bedouin to 
the stranger whom he meets travelling through his 
wild domain), ' and every man who passes over it must 
pay us tribute.' These principal and distinguishing 
traits of the Bedouin character have long been known ; 
but as I expected to see them in their tents, and be 
thrown among different tribes, claiming friendship from 
those who were enemies to each other, I was curious to 
know the details of their lives and habits ; and I listened 
with exceeding interest while the young Bedouin, with 
his eyes constantly fixed upon it, told me that for more 
than four hundred years the tent of his fathers had 
been in that mountain. Wild and unsettled, robbers 
and plunderers as they are, they have laws which are 
as sacred as our own ; and the tent, and the garden, and 
the little pasture-ground, are transmitted from father to 
son for centuries. I have probably forgotten more than 
half of our conversation ; but I remember he told me 
that all the sons shared equally ; that the daughters 
took nothing ; that the children lived together ; that if 
any of the brothers got married, the property must be 
divided ; that the sisters must remain with the brothers 
until they (the sisters) are married. I asked him, if 
the brothers did not choose to keep a sister with them, 
what became of her ; but he did not understand me. I 
repeated the question, but still he did not comprehend 
it, and looked to his companions for an explanation. 
And when, at last, the meaning of my question became 
apparent to his mind, he answered, with a look of 
wonder, ' It is impossible — she is his own blood.' I 
pressed my question again and again, in various forms^ 



AI?ABS. 267 

but it was so strange an idea, that to the last he did 
not fully comprehend it, and his answer was still the 
same, ' It is impossible — she is his own blood.' The 
Bedouin seldom marries more than one wife. 

" They are essentially a pastoral people — their only 
riches are their flocks and herds, their home is in the 
wide desert, and they have no local attachment ; to-day 
they pitch their tents among the mountains, to-morrow 
in the plain ; and wherever they plant themselves for 
the time, all that they have on earth — wife, children, 
and friends, are immediately around them. In fact, 
the life of a Bedouin, his appearance and habits, are 
precisely the same as those of the patriarchs of old. 
Abraham, himself, the first of the patriarchs, was a 
Bedouin, and four thousand years have not made the 
slightest alteration in the character and habits of this 
extraordinary people. Read of the patriarchs in the 
Bible, and it is the best description you can have of 
pastoral life in the East at the present day.* 

" Among the barren and desolate mountains, there is 
frequently a small space of ground, near some fountain 
or deposite of water, known only to the Arabs, capable 
of producing a scanty crop of grass to pasture a few 
camels, and a small flock cf sheep or goats. There the 
Bedouin pitches his tent, and remains until the scanty 
product is consumed ; and then packs up his household 
goods, and seeks another pasture ground." — Incidents 
of Travel, vol. i., 265-267, 269 ; ii. 7. 

The history of the Arabs, writes Mr. Keith, so opposite 
in many respects to that of the Jews, but as a singular as 
theirs, was concisely and clearly foretold. It was prophe- 
sied concerning Ishmael : " He will be a wild man ; his 
hand will be against every man, and every man's hand will 
be against him : and he shall dwell in the presence of all 
his brethren. I will make him fruitful, and multiply 
him exceedingly, and I will make him a great nation," 

* See Chapter I. 



268 ARABS. 

The fate of Ishmael is here identified with that of his 
descendants ; and the same character is common to them 
both. The historical evidence of the fact, the universal 
tradition, and constant boast of the Arabs themselves, 
their language, and the preservation for many ages of 
an original rite, derived from him as their predecessor, 
confirm the truth of their descent from Ishmael. The 
body of their nation has escaped the yoke of the most 
powerful monarchies, and the conquerors of many other 
people, could never achieve the conquest of Arabia. 
The Arabs subsist to this day in the prophesied and 
primitive wildness of their race, hostile to all, as even 
the unbelieving Gibbon writes, " armed against man- 
kind." Plundering is their profession. Their alliance 
is never courted, and can never be obtained ; and all 
that the Turks or Persians, or any of their neighbors, 
can stipulate for from them, is a partial and purchased 
forbearance. Even the British, who have established a 
residence in almost every country, have entered the 
territories of the descendants of Ishmael to accomplish 
only the premeditated destruction of a fort, and to retire. 
They have continued wild or uncivilized, and have 
retained their habits of hostility toward all the rest of 
the human race, though they possessed for three hun- 
dred years countries the most opposite in their nature 
from the mountains of Arabia. The greatest part of 
the temperate zone was included within the limits of the 
Arabian conquests; and their empire extended from 
India to the Atlantic, and embraced a wider range of 
territory than ever was possessed by the Romans, those 
boasted masters of the world. The period of their 
conquest and dominion was sufficient, under such cir- 
cumstances, to have changed the manners of any people ; 
but whether in the land of Shinar, or in the valleys of 
Spain, on the banks of the Tigris or the Tagus, in Araby 
the blessed, or Araby the barren, the posterity of Ishmael 
have ever retained their prophetic character ; they have 
remained under every change of condition, a wild 



ARABS. 



269 



people ; their hand has still been against every man, and 
every man's hand against them. The following is the 
natural reflection of Sir R. K. Porter, on examining 
the peculiarities of an Arab tribe : ' On the smallest 
computation, such must have been the manners of those 
people for more than three thousand years, thus in all 
things verifying the prediction given of Ishmael at his 
birth. .... And that an acute and active people, sur- 
rounded for ages by polished and luxurious nations, 
should from their earliest to their latest times, be. still 
found a wild people, dwelling in the presence of all their 
brethren (as we may call these nations) unsubdued and 
unchangeable, is, indeed, a standing miracle, — one of 
those mysterious facts which establish the truth of proph- 
ecy.' " — See Keith on the Prophecies, pp. 320-323. 




270 



CHAPTER XVII 



ACCOUINT OF THE RECHABITES. 

Jeremiah xxxv. 5-8, 18, 19. 

" And I set before the sons of the house of the 
Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto 
them, Drink ye wine. But they said. We will drink no 
wine : for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father 
(2 Kings X. 15), commanded us saying, Ye shall drink 
no wine, neither ye nor your sons for ever : neither 
shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, 
nor have any : but all your days ye shall dwell in tents ; 
that ye may live many days in the land where ye be 
strangers. Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab, 
the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he hath 
charged us 

" And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechab- 
ites, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel. 
Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab 
your father, and kept all his precepts, and done accord- 
ing unto all that he hath commanded you ; therefore 
thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, Jonadab 
the son of Rechab shall nQt want a man to stand before 
me for ever." 

The following account of the Rechabites is given by 
the Rev. Joseph WoliF, missionary to the Jews : — 

" On my arrival at Julooha, I saw Jews wandering 
about among the Arabs, and believing them to be 
Rechabites on account of their wandering about in the 
desert, I asked them the question, they answered, ' No ; 
but here is one who comes from the deserts of Mecca. 
I saw a man standing before me, with the wild look and 
dress of an Arab, holding his horse's bridle in his hand, 



ACCOUNT OF THE RECHABITES. 



271 



I showed him the Bible, both in Hebrew and Arabic,, 
he read both languages, and was rejoiced to see the 
Bible ; he was not acquainted with the New Testament. 
After halving proclaimed to him the tidings of salvation, 
and made him a present of the Hebrew and Arabic 
bibles and testaments, I asked him, ' Whose descendant 
are you V Mousa (this was his name) said with a loud 
voice, ' Come, and I will show you ;' he then opened 




the Bible at the thirty-fifth chapter of Jeremiah, and 
began to read from the fifth to the eleventh verse. I 
asked ' Where do you live V Referring to Genesis 
X. 27, he replied, ' At Hadoram, now called Samar by 
the Arabs, at Usal, now called Sanaa by the Arabs, and 
[Gen. X. 30] at Mesha, now called Mecca, in the deserts 
around those places. We drink no wine, and plant no 
vineyard, and sow no seed, and live in tents as Jonadab 
our father commanded us ; Hobab, the son of Jethro, 
was our father too ; come to us, you will still find sixty 



272 A.CCOUNT OF THE RECHABITES. 

thousand in number, and you see thus the prophecy has 
been fulfilled, " Therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts, 
the God of Israel, Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not 
want a man to stand before me for ever." ' 

" Saying this Mousa mounted his horse and galloped 
off, leaving me more convinced than ever of the truth 
of the Scriptures. 

"The Rechabites are descendants of Midian, son of 
Abraham by Keturah ; and the example of the father 
of the faithful seems to have been handed down through 
Hobab and Rechab, through many generations, as it is 
written, ' I know him, that he will command his children 
and his household after him, and they shall keep the 
way of the Lord to do justice and judgment.' " 

"Recent discoveries," observes Mr. Keith, "have 
brought to light the miraculous preservation and exist- 
ence, as a distinct people, of a less numerous, but not 
less interesting race [than the Arabs] ' a plant which 
grew up under the mighty cedar of Israel, but was 
destined to flourish when that proud tree was levelled 
to the earth.' * Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God 
of Israel, Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a 
man to stand before me for ever.' The Rechabites still 
exist a ' distinct, and easily distinguishable' people. 
They boast of their descent from Rechab, profess pure 
Judaism, and all know Hebrew. The account given of 
them by Benjamin of Tudela, in the twelfth century, 
has very recently been confirmed by Mr. Wolfif; and, 
as he witnessed, and heard from an intrepid ' Rechabite 
cav^alier,' there is not a man wanting to stand up as a 
son of Rechab." — See Wolff's Journal (1828), vol. ii., 
pp. 276, 331-336. Keith on the Prophecies, pp. 348, 350, 



273 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



Miscellaneous Observations — Leprosy — Eastern Potters — Smi- 
ting on the Month — Significant Actions much used in the 
East — Token of Enmity — Stones erected as memorials — 
Eastern Games — Maternal Influence — Shrines — Spoils sus- 
pended in Sacred places — Sacrifices offered to Idols in High 
Places — Religious Marks — Religious Cusiom in Judea — in 
China and Persia — Roman Soldiers — Military Subordina- 
lion among the Romans — Barbarous Custom in Warfare — 
Hiding Treasures. 



LEPROSY. 

Leviticus xiii. 46. 
" All the days wherein the plague shall be in him 
.... [the leper] he shall dwell aloner 

Mr. Carne, when in Cyprus writes, " Near the foot 
of the hill, in a most lonely spot, and in a wretched 
cottage, lived a family of lepers. These unfortunate 
people were avoided by all the other inhabitants, who 
dreaded to come near their dwelling. The disease was 
hereditary, for every one of their numerous family was 
afflicted with it. Some of them stood at the door, and 
looked the pictures of sadness and solitude. They 
would be starved, did not some of the people who lived 
in the plain bring food occasionally, and place it at a 
short distance from the cottage. 

"So great is the horror entertained of this disease, 
that the Mosaic law is fulfilled to the letter, of shutting 
them out from all society, without the hope of ever re 
turning to it." — Game's Letters, pp. 465-466. 



274 LEPROSY. 

2 Kings v. 27. 
" And he went out from his presence a leper as white 
as snow." 

Mr. Gaunter when in India, gives the following 
account of a leper with whom he met. " One evening, 
as I was strolling along the seashore, I saw such an 
extraordinary object before me, that I could not ta.ke my 
eyes off it. A man was coming toward me, whose only 
clothing [like that of all the lower orders of India] was 
a piece of cloth wrapped round the body from the waist 
downward. His skin was perfectly white, and it seemed 
o-lazed as if seared with a hot iron. His head was un- 

o 

covered, and his hair, which was of precisely the same 
color as the skin, hung down in long strips upon his 
lean and withered shoulders. His eyes, except the 
eyeballs, were of a dull murky red, and he kept them 
fixed on the ground, as if it were painful to him to look 
up, which I found to be the case. He walked slowly 
and feebly, and he was so frightfully thin, that he seemed 
to stand before me a living skeleton. He did not at first 
venture to come within several yards of me ; I moved 
toward him, but he walked further from me, beseech- 
ing me to give the smallest trifle to a miserable man, to 
save him from starving to death, as he was an object of 
universal scorn, and an outcast from his home and 
friends. He told me not to come near a polluted crea- 
ture, for whom no one felt pity. He told me he had 
during many years, sufiered dreadfully from the leprosy, 
and though he was now cured, it had left upon him 
these marks of pollution, which would prevent his ever 
being allowed to go near his fellow-creatures again. 
The color of his skin was changed to a corpse-like 
white, and none could mistake that he had been a leper." 
75. 



SIGNIFICANT ACTIONS MUCH USED. 277 



SIGNIFICANT ACTIONS MUCH USED IN THE EAST. 

Job xxix. 10. 
" The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand 
on their mouth." 

When the Eastern people wish to be silent, they 
place their hand upon their mouth to express their 
intentions by actions, and their sentiments by attitude. 
Many instances of this practice are to be found. " On 
our taking possession of Rosetta," writes Monsieur 
Denon, " at an entertainment which was given, a young 
Greek came up to me, kissed my shoulder, and with his 
finger on his lips, without uttering a single syllable, 
slipped privately into my hand a nosegay which he had 
brought me. This simple demonstration completely un- 
folded all his sensations, and was expressive of his 
political situation, his fears, and his hopes." — Denon^s 
Travels in Egypt, 

TOKEN OF ENMITY. 

2 Kings iii. 19. 
*' Ye shall mar every good piece of land with stones." 

ECCLESIASTES ill. 5. 

" A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather 
stones together." 

It is a frequent practice in Arabia, for persons to 
place stones on the ground of those with whom they 
are at variance, as a warning, that any one who dares to 
till that field shall be slam by them. The Israelites, 
having conquered Moab, probably placed such stones in 
their best grounds, thus interdicting them from tilling 
them. The royal preacher's words may signify, in 
accordance with this ancient custom, " There is a fime 

24 



278 TOKEN OF ENMITY. 

to give to nations with whom we have been at war, the 
sign of reconciliation, by removing the stones from theii 
fields ; and a time w^hen we must still leave, or place 
them there, as tokens of displeasure." — Harmer\s Obser- 
vations, vol. iv., pp. 392-394.^ 



STONES ERECTED AS MEMORIALS IN THE EAST. 

Genesis xxviii. 18-22. 
" And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took 
the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up 
for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. . . , , 
And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, if God will be with 
me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give 
me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come 
again to my father's house in peace ; then shall the Lord 
be my God: and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, 
shall be God's house, and of all that thou shall give me, 
I will surely give the tenth unto thee." 

Mr. Morier thus illustrates the preceding passage ; 
he was ascending the rock of Istakhar, in Persia : — 

" We ascended on the northwest side, winding round 
the foot of the rock, and making our way through 
narrow and intricate paths. I remarked that our old 
guide every here and there placed a stone on a con- 
spicuous bit of rock, or two stones one upon the other, at 
the same time uttering some words, which I learned were 
a prayer for our safe return. This explained to me 
what I had frequently seen before in the East, and 
particularly on the high road leading to a great town, 
whence the town is first seen, and where the Eastern 
traveller sets up his stone accompanied by a devout 
exclamation, as it were, in token of his safe arrival 
The action of our guide appears to illustrate the vow 
which Jacob made when he travelled to Padan-aram, in 
token of which he placed a stone and set it up for a 



STONES ERECTED AS MEMORIALS. 



279 



pillar. — In seeing a stone on the road placed in this 
position, or one stone upon another, it implies that some 
traveller has there made a vow, or a thanksgiving. 
Nothing is so natural in a journey over a dreary country 
as for a solitary traveller to set himself down fatigued, 
and to make the vow that Jacob did. ^ If God be with 
me, and keep me in this way that I go, so that I reach 
my father's house in peace,' then will I give so much in 
charity ; or again, that on first seeing the place which 
he has toiled so long to reach, the traveller should sit 
down and make a thanksgiving, in both cases setting up 
a stone as a memorial." — Morier^s Second Journey 
through Persia^ Armenia, and Asia Minor, p. 84. 




^80 E/ISTERN GAMES. 



EASTERN GAMES. 



2 Timothy iv. 7. 
' I have fought a good fight ; I have finished my 



course/ 



" From Megara," writes Mr. Wilson, the missionary 
to Greece, " we set off at daylight for Corinth. On 
the road we skirted the Corinthian gulf, a most de- 
lightful walk. At the head of the waters we occasionally 
obtained, as we turned a projecting angle of the coast, 
a splendid view of the towering citadel, high in the air, 
yet black and frowning. We crossed the isthmus of 
Corinth about noon. This, could one fail to recollect ? 
was the sight of some of those celebrated games so often 
alluded to by St. Paul. In his epistle to Timothy is a 
most elegant and endearing reference to these contests 
of the ancient Greeks. ' I have fought the good fight 
— I have finished my course — I have kept the faith : 
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteous- 
ness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me 
at that day : and not to me only, but unto all them also 
that love his appearing.' The * course' was now 
mapped out at my feet. Around this thousands used to 
congregate to witness the dexterity of the wrestler, or 
the velocity of the racer ; and the judges sat by to 
award the prize to victors. How interesting is the allu- 
sion to these facts made by St. Paul, in addressing the 
infant church of Christ, ' Wherefore seeing that we 
also,' not these candidates, but we professors, ' are en- 
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let 
us lay aside every weight,' everything that might encum- 
ber us in our course, ' and run with patience the race 
set before us.' And in another place, this zealous 
apostle addresses the very men, who in other ages as- 
sembled where my feet now stood, in beautiful allusion 
to these ancient contests. ^ So run, that ye may obtain,' 



EASTERN GAIV.ES- 281 

obtain the crown of glory." How animating the motives 
here held out to the Christian ! Those who have already 
finished their course are represented as witnesses, a 
doud of witnesses, around ours. They anxiously 
watch our progress, they long for our success ; they 
await the time when we shall gain the victory, for ' they, 
without us, cannot be made perfect.' Well then, may 
each say 

Awake, my soul I stretch every nerve, 
And press with vigor on. 

The Grecian wrestlers and racers exerted themselves 
to obtain a corruptible crown, (corruptible, indeed, for 
it was of laurel or parsley!) but we^ an incorruptible. 
And wo unto us, if we exhibit less energy than they ! 
So run we then, not as uncertainly ; so fight we, not as 
one that beateth the air ! — Rev. S. S.Wilson's Malta, Sfc, 



MATERNAL INFLUENCE. 

1 Samuel xx. 30. 
*' Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, 
and he said unto him. Thou son of the perverse rebel- 
ious woman." 

When the Eastern people are angry with any one, 
they abuse and vilify his parents. Saul did not intend 
to reproach his wife personally, but to intimate his wrath 
against he*r son. This treatment is acutely felt by the 
children. In every Eastern family, the great object of 
respect and devotion is the mother. Witness the fa- 
miliar expression, " Pull my father's beard, but do not 
speak ill of my mother." In Africa, maternal afi'ection 
is always conspicuous, and creates a correspondent return 
of tenderness in the child. " Strike me," said a travel- 
ler's servant to his master, " but do not curse my mother.^' 
Urqucharfs Spirit of the East ; and Note on this passage 
m Treasury Bible, 

24* 



282 SHRINES. 



SHRINES, 

Acts xix. 24. 

"A certain man, named Demetrius, a silversmith, 
which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small 
gain unto the craftsmen." 

" I REMEMBER oucc entering a church in the island 
of Cefalonia," writes the Rev. S. S. Wilson, " seated on 
a hill overhanging the sea. To this church poor 
mariners often resort after storms. I remarked there 
what I had often seen also in papal churches in Malta ; 
over the shrine of some favorite saint were ranged a 
number of arms, legs, eyes, pictures of ships in danger, 
and so forth, some in white wax, some in silver, and 
some in gold. What are these ? I asked. These are 
oblations of gratitude, placed on the wrong altar. The 
offerers have been at the point of death in sickness, or 
have suffered under some local disease, or in fine, have 
been in a storm ; and in their distress, have made vows 
to the saint, which they fulfilled by presenting these 
limbs and rude paintings." — Rev. S, S. Wilson's Malta. 



SPOILS SUSPENDED IN SACRED PLACES. 

2 Samuel viii. 7-11. 
" And David took the shields of gold which were on 
the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jeru- 
salem ; . . . . which King David did dedicate unto the 
Lord, with the silver and gold .... of all nations which 
he subdued." 

When the Tegeans on one occasion conquered the 
Lacedaemonians, who had attacked them with such an 
assurance of victory, that they had brought with them 
fetters to bind the prisoners with, they placed these very 



SPOILS SUSPENDED IN IJaCRED PLACES. 283 

fetters upon the Lacedaemonian captives, and sent them 
to work in their fields. These very chains, Herodotus 
records, were preserved in his remembrance, hung round 
the temple of the goddess Minerva.* This custom of 
suspending in sacred buildings the spoils taken from an 
enemy, was begun in the most barbarous ages, and at 
the present day continued. It is usual among the 
moderns to suspend in churches the colors taken from 
the enemy. 



SACRIFICES OFFERED TO IDOLS IN HIGH 
PLACES. 

Deuteronony xii. 2, 3. 
" Ye shall utterly destroy all the places wherein the 
nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon 
the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every 



It appears to have been from the first, the custom of 
the heathen idolaters, to offer their sacrifices to their 
gods on the tops of hills and mountains, and in groves 
and shady places (see verse 3). 

The Israelites were therefore commanded, not to offer 
their burnt-offerings in every 'place they saw^ but to 
offer them only in the place the Lord should choose 
(verse 13, 14). The ancient Persians offered, from the 
summits of the highest mountains, sacrifices to Jove, 
distinguishing by that appellation all the expanse of the 
firmament. (Herodotus bk. L, ch. cxxxi.) 

The temples where the heathens went to consult their 
oracles, were also for the most part built in mountainous 
places. 

* Book I., Ixvi 



284 RELIGIOUS MARKS. 



RELIGIOUS MARKS. 

Deuteronomy xxxii. 5. 
" Their spot is not the spot of his children." 

" One of tho most striking peculiarities in Madras is 
the universality with which the men and women, old and 
young, bear upon their foreheads, arms, &c., the marks 
peculiar to their religion. Some have a red or blue 
spot on their forehead ; others, blue, red, white, or 
yellow perpendicular lines ; others horizontal lines. 
Some, in addition to these, have ashes or clay rubbed in 
lines on their arms. T could not help recurring con- 
tinually to that text in Deuteronomy, ' Their spot is 
not the spot of his children.' The allusion is, doubtless, 
to a similar custom." — Rev. H. Malcom's Travels. 

RELIGIOUS CUSTOM IN JUDEA. 

Luke ii. 42. 
" And when he [Jesus] was twelve years old, they 
went up to Jerusalem." 

The Jew boys, when they enter their thirteenth 
year, go through the following ceremony, the poorer 
classes in private, the richer Jews in the synagogue. 
I had the opportunity of witnessing one of these. The 
boy, who was the son of a rabbi, appeared in the syna- 
gogue, well dressed, with the ten commandments fast- 
ened on his forehead in a small leathern bag, and the 
same also on his left arm. The morning service was 
then read. After this, the lad advanced to the altar, 
and offered up a prayer to the Almighty, in permitting 
him to attain that age which is here considered as tho 
commencement of manhood. A religious discourse 
was then delivered by him for nearly an hour. — Note tc 
Brooke^s T^ravels in Spain and Morocco. 



HELIGIOUS CUeTOM IN CHINA ANL» PERSIA. 285 



RELIGIOUS CUSTOM IN CHINA AND PERSIA. 

Leviticus xi. 33. 
" And every earthen vessel, whereinto any of them 
falleth, whatsoever is in it shall be unclean ; and ye shall 
break it." 

It was usual in ancient times, and is still the custom 
in China, Persia, and many other countries, for each 
guest to have a little table for himself, upon which dishes 
are placed separately for him. In India many persons 
never eat out of the same dish as others, believing it 
would be sinful to do so, and thinking their dishes, &c., 
to be polluted and spoiled if touched by persons of 
another religion, they break them. Dr. Clark found a 
similar custom among the Turks, He was one night 
entertained very kindly by a Turk and his family ; after 
leaving the place, the next morning Dr. Clark returned 
for a book he had left behind, when he found his kind 
host and all the family employed in breaking and 
throwing away the earthenware plates and dishes, from 
which his guests had eaten, and purifying the other 
utensils and articles of furniture by passing them through 
fire or water. 

ROMAN SOLDIERS. 

2 Timothy ii. 3. 
" Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier 
of Jesus Christ." 

What hardship a Roman soldier endured, the follow- 
ing passage in Josephus will evince. It forms a striking 
commentary upon his text. " When they march.' 
writes the historian, " out of their encampment, they 
advance in silence, and in great decorum, each man 
keeping his proper rank, just as in a battle. Their in 



286 ROMAN SOLDIERS. 

fonvry is armed with breast-plates and helmets, and 
they carry a sword on each side. The sword they wear 
on their left side is by far the longest, for that on the 
right is not above a span's length. That select body 
of infantry, which forms part of the general's life-guards, 
is armed with lances and bucklers ; but the rest of the 
phalanx have a spear and a long shield, beside which 
they bear a saw and a basket, a spade, and a hatchei ; 
they also carry with them a cord, a sickle, a chain, and 
provisions for three days, so that a Roman foot soldier 
is but very little different from a beast of burden." — 
Josephus. 



MILITARY SUBORDINATION AMONG THE ROMANS. 

Matthew viii. 9. 
" I am a man under authority, hstving soldiers under 
me, and I say to this man. Go, and he goeth ; and to 
another, Come, and he cometh ; and to my servant. Do 
this, and he doeth it." 



The strictest subordination and obedience were ex- 
acted of every Roman soldier. The Roman infantry 
were divided into three principal classes, each of which 
was composed of thirty companies, and each company 
contained two hundred men. Over every company were 
placed two centurions (one to each hundred), who were, 
however, very far from, being equal in rank and honor, 
though possessing the same office. Two of the classes 
were esteemed more honorable than the other, and had 
their centurions elected^r^^ ; and these took precedency 
of the centurions of the remaining class, who were 
elected last. The humble centurion of the Gospel 
appears to have been of the inferior order. He was a 
man " under authority," of other centurions, and had 
none under him but the hundred men, who appear to 



MILITARY SUBORDINATIOxV. 287 

have been in a state of the strictest military subordina- 
tion, as well as of loving subjection to him. 

Even in the present day we may find the same sub- 
ordination, exemplified in the East. A captive chief, 
who was marching to the British headquarters, on being 
asked concerning the motives that induced him to quit 
his native land, and enter into the service of the rajah 
<ff Nepal (as he had done), replied in the following very 
impressive manner : " My master sent me. He says to 
his people, to one. Go you to Ghurwall ; to another, 
Go you to Gashmire, or to any distant part. My lord, 
thy slave obeys ; it is done. None ever inquires into the 
reason of an order of the rajah." — Br. A, Clarke; 
Fraser^s Notes. 

BARBAROUS CUSTOM IN EASTERN WARFARE. 

2 Kings x. 8 
"And there came a messenger and told him [Jehu], 
saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons ; 
and he said. Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering 
in of the gate until the morning." 

Mr. Morier, in an account he gives of a treaty of 
peace between two armies,, one of Russians, and^^e 
other of Persians, says, " One of the articles was, that 
their [the Russian's] heads were not to be cut ofF; an 
act which in Persian and Turkish warfare is a common 
custom. During this fight ten tomauns were given for 
every head of the enemy that was brought to the prince 
[of Persia ]; and it has been known to occur, after the 
combat was over, that prisoners have been put to death 
in cold blood, in order that the heads, which are imme- 
diately despatched to the king, and deposited in heaps 
at the palace-gate, might make a more considerable show. 
Such barbarities make us shudder in England, but they 
only tend to show how little the manners of Asia have 
changed since the remotest times." — Morier^ s Second 
Journey through Persia^ <^c„ p. 186 



288 HIDING TREASURES. 



HIDING TREASURES. 

Matthew xxv. 18. 
" But he that had received one [talent] went and 
digged in the earth, and hid his Lord's money." 

The practice of hiding treasures, is one of almosf 
daily occurrence in the East. In the year 1813, the 
pacha of Egypt demanded fifteen thousand purses from 
those who kept the money of the country. Twelve 
hundred purses were required from an old man named 
Feheos, who had been a chief financier in former times. 
He refused to pay this, alleging his poverty, but at last 
he offered to give two hundred purses. The pacha sent 
for him, threatened, and seeing him obstinate, ordered 
him to be beaten. After receiving five hundred strokes, 
and being nearly half dead, he declared he would pay no 
more than two hundred purses. The governor thought 
he was telling the truth, but his son Ibrahim Pacha, 
who was present, said he was sure the man had more 
money. Felteos, therefore received three hundred 
additional strokes, after which he confessed that he was 
poUessed of the sum demanded, and promised to pay 
it. He was then permitted to return home ; and at the 
end of a fortnight, being so much recovered as to be 
able to walk about, commissioners were sent to his house 
by the pacha, laborers were called, and Felteos de- 
scended with them to a lower room in his house, at the 
bottom of which they removed a large stone which 
closed up a small passage, containing a vaulted niche, 
where two iron chests were deposited. On opening 
these, two thousand purses were found, twelve hundred 
of which the pacha took, and left the remainder to the 
owner, who died three months after, not in consequence 
of the blows he had received,- but of grief for the loss 
of his money. Had he been able to remove the treas- 
ure secretly, he v/ould probably have done so, had not 



HIDING TS//ASURES. 



289 



a guard been posted in his house immediately on his 
promising to pay. The pacha, conceiving that the 
money was concealed in some secret spot, according 
to a practice general in the Edist.—Burckhardt^s 
Travels. 




25 



£S<j 



APPENDIX. 



HOSPITALITY. Chap. I. 

/A TRAVELLER mentions that while in the desert, near 
Sinai, anticipating not meeting for days with a living crea- 
ture, himself and his attendants were suddenly cheered by 
seeing an Arab woman pass before them, and, overtaking 
her, she recognised in one of his companions a friend of her 
tribe, and, in the same spirit, and almost in the same words 
v/hieh would have been used by her ancestors four thousand 
years ago, she asked them to her tent (not far from the 
road, but completely hidden from view), and promised 
them a lamb or a kid for supper. " Her husband was 
stretched on the ground in front of his tent, and welcomed 
us with an air and manner that belonged to the desert, but 
which a king on his throne could not have excelled. He 
was the imbodied personification of all my conceptions of 
a patriarch: a large loose frock, a striped handkerchief on 
his head, bare legs, sandals on his feet, and a long white 

beard Almost immediately after we were seated, he 

took his shepherd's crook, and, assisted by his son, selected 
.a lamb from the flock for the evening meal " — Inci- 
dents of T ravel y vol. ii., pp. 7, 8. 



CARAVANSARIES. Chap. I. 

Jereimiah ix., 2. 

^* that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of way- 
faring men, that I might leave my people, and go from 
them." 

The prophet here clearly alludes to those solitary khans 
or lodging-places for travellers, which are often at equal 
distances, in Turicey, between large towns. 



APPENDIX. 291 

The places of accommodation for travellers in the East, 
are properly three — caravansaries, khans, and menzila. 
The first are buildings designed to afford shelter to trav- 
ellers in deserts, and other remote situations ; khans are 
similar buildings in a tovirn ; and menzil is a word of rather 
indefinite application, but seems generally to denote the 
house of the persons who are accustomed to accommodate 
travellers in places where there is no khan or caravansary. 
The superior class of caravansaries appear very striking 
objects to the stranger, who takes them for palaces, for- 
tresses, or castles; but this first impression wears off on a 
nearer approach, when it is seen that no enclosed buildings 
rise above the level of the enclosing wall. This wall is 
generally upward of twenty feet high, and it sometirnes 
extends one hundred yards on each side of the square which 
it encloses. It is strongly built of fine brick-work, com- 
monly based on stone, and is ornamented at the top. In 
the centre of the front wall is the entrance, a tall and 
spacious archway, over which are sometimes chambers 
crowned with superb domes. These form the places of 
honor. On each side, under the arched roof of the 
portico, are the keeper's rooms, and shops, where the com- 
modities most required by travellers are sold. Passing 
through this archway, the spectator perceives a sort of 
piazza extending on every side of the interior of the quad- 
rangle, leaving a spacious area in the middle. Arched 
recesses in the wall now appear to be apartments, divided 
from each other by walls, open in front, neatly paved, and 
sometimes possessing a fire-place, while compartments cut 
out in the thick wall serve as cupboards. A small door 
conducts to an inner room, seldom resorted to, of an oblong 
shape, receiving its only light from a chimney opposite the 
door, and having also a range of cupboards, about three 
feet from the floor. In the middle of each of the three 
sides of the building, is an apartment much more spacious 
and lofty than any other, and not divided into two rooms. 
These are used as places where the different inmates resort, 
to smoke, converse, or tell tales. The stables of the cara- 
vansary extend along a covered lane, between the back 
wall of the apartments, and the outermost wall of the 
building; and along this wall there extends, within the 
stable, another series of cell-like apartments, for servants 
and poor people. But the spacious central court-yard is 



292 APPENDIX. 

always used as a stable when the weather is fair. In the 
centre of the court is an elevated platform of masonry, the 
roof of a subterraneous chamber, a most refreshing retreat 
during the great mid-day heats. Sometimes the place of 
this platform is occupied by the parapet of the deep well 
or reservoir from which the caravansary is supplied with 
water. At the angles of the square, flights of steps conduct 
to the flat roof of the building, resorted to in the c^ol of 
the evening. The traveller brings his bedding, culmary 
utensils, and some articles of provision, with him. Few 
caravansaries, however, are thus complete, and many are 
suff*ered to fall into decay. 

The largest number of them in Persia have been built 
by wealthy individuals wishing to perpetuate their names, 
or as acts of charity designed to purchase future rewards. 
Many are of royal origin, and very ancient. — See Penny 
Mamzine. No. 166. 



SEPULCHRES OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH. Chap. II. 

2 Kings ix., 28. 
" And his servants carried him [Ahaziah, king of Judah] 
in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre 
with his fathers in the city of David." 

2 Kings xxiii., 30. 
"And his servants carried him [Josiah] in a chariot dead 
from Megiddo, and broughi him to Jerusalem, and buried 
him in his own sepulchre." 

The tombs of the kings [of Judahj are above half a mile 
from the wall of Jerusalem. In the midst of a hollow, 
rocky, and adorned with a few trees, is the entrance; you 
then find a large apartment, above fifty feet long, at the 
side of which a low door (surmounted by a beautiful frieze) 
leads into a series of small chambers, in the wails of which 
are several deep recesses, hewn out of the rock, of the size 
of the human body. There are six or seven of these low 
and dark apartments, one or two of which are adorned 
with vine-leaves and clusters of grapes. Many parts of the 
<4tone coflins, beautifully ornamented, are strew^ed on the 
floor; and it should seem that some hand of ravage had 



APPENDIX. 293 

broken them to pieces, with the view of finding something 
valuable within. The sepulchres of the judges, so called, 
are situated in a wild spot about two miles from the city. 
They bear much resemblance to those of the kings, but are 
not so handsome or spacious. — Car7ie*s Letters^ p. 294. 



EASTERN ROOFS. Chap. II. 

Proverbs xxvii., 15. 
" A continual dropping in a very rainy day, and a conten- 
tious woman, are alike." 

The following is a passage from the Rev. J. Hartley's 
Journals ; he was then visiting the Apocalyptic churches. 

April 21. — " Last night we retired to rest in what appeared 
one of the best rooms which we have occupied during the 
journey; but, at midnight, we were roused by the rain 
pouring through the roof, and I found it necessary to rise 
and dress. In flat-roofed houses this is a frequent occur- 
rence. I discover in this adventure an illustration of Prov. 
xxvii., 15. The Septuagint has it, 'Drops of rain in a 
wintry day drive a man out of his house ; and just so a railing 
woman.^ The Vulgate speaks expressly of the roof through 
which the water passeth. I was literally driven out of the 
house by the rain descending through the roof; and sought 
for shelter in the corridor, which was better protected." — 
Hartley^ Researches^ pp. 283, 284. 



NAILS IN EASTERN WALLS. Chap. II. 

Ezra ix., S. 
" And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from 
the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to 
give us a nail* in his holy place^ that our God may lighten: 
our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage." 

Isaiah xxii., 23. 
"And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place: ..... 



* Or, a pin: that is, a constant and sure abode. See margin^ 

25* 



294 APPENDIX. 

and they shall hang upon hira all the glory of his father's 
house " see Zech. x. 4. 

Speaking of the houses at Damascus, Mr. Wilson says* 
"In building, the plan is to fix nails or pins of wood in 
the walls while still soft, to suspend such domestic articles 
as are required, since, consisting altogether of clay, they 
are too frail to permit of the operation of a hammer." — Rae 
Wilson^s Travels^ vol. ii., p. 118. 

It is evidently to this custom that the sacred writers refer 
in the texts quoted above, making it expressive of security 
and perpetuity. For Ezra, after speaking of the afflictions 
of his people, and representing them as delivered to cap- 
tivity, and the sword, in strange lands, where they wan- 
dered defenceless, having no secure dwelling, nor place oi 
refuge, adds, "And now for a little space grace hath htQW 
showed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to 
escape, and to give us a nail in his holy flace^'' thus re- 
storing them to their own land, to the city and the house 
which he had chosen to put his name there, giving them 
once again a constant and sure abode in his holy mountain, 
and temple. 

And in like manner, Isaiah, when prophesying in the 
name of the Lord concerning the honors which should be 
conferred upon Eliakim (chap, xxii.), declares that he 
shall be fastened as a nail in a sure place^ thus signifying 
his security, and that upon him shall hang all the glory oi 
his father's house. 

The words " sure place," are very expressive, for usually 
the walls of the Eastern houses are most insecure. Of those 
at Damascus, Mr. Wilson observes, that they are built of 
the most perishable materials, namely, bricks, not dried by 
fire, but by the heat of the sun ; and that in summer they 
crack and crumble with the heat, creating a most offensive 
dust, especially when rain is followed by wind; while, 
during wet weather, the slough arising from them renders 
the streets almost impassable. — Se Rae Wilson's Travels^ 
vol. ii., pp. 117-119. 



APPENDIX. 295 



GREEK FUNERALS. Chap. VIII. 

Luke vii. 12-15. 
" Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, 
there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his 
mother, and she was a widow : and much people of the city 
was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he hac com- 
passion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came 
and touched the bier: and ihey that bare him stood still. 
And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he 
that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he deliv- 
ered him to his mother." 

In describing the funeral rites, &c., of the Greeks, Mr. 
i^artley writes : "Very frequently, while you are silently 
engaged in your apartment, the stillness of a Turkish town, 
where no rumbling of wheels is ever heard, is interrupted 
by the distant sound of the funeral chant of the Greek 
priests. As the voices grow more loud, you hasten to the 
window to behold the procession. The priests move first, 
bearing their burning tapers, and by their dark and flowing 
robes give an idea of mourning in harmony with the occa- 
sion. The corpse is always exhibited to full view. It is 
placed upon a bier, which is borne aloft upon the shoulders, 
and is dressed in the best and gayest garments possessed by 
the deceased. I have sometimes seen a young female, who 
had departed in the bloom of life and beauiy, adorned 
rather as a bride to meet the bridegroom, than as one who 
was to be the tenant of the chamber of corruption. The 
young man at Nain, who was restored to life by the com- 
mand of our Savior, was doubtless carried on a bier of this 
kind. When our Lord intimated the design of interposing 
in his favor, they that bare him stood still. And when the 
miraculous energy v/as exerted, he that was dead sat up, 
and began to speak, (Luke vii. 15.) 

" The closing part of the Greek burial-service, commen- 
cing with the words, * Come, and impart the last embrace,' 
is very affecting. The friends of the departed press forward 
from every part of the church, and kiss his cold and pallid 
lips, and weep over him. It is considered a very peculiar 
mark of disrespect to neglect this last office of affection. "— 
Hartley^ s Researches, pp. 107, 108. 



\ 



296 CONTENTS. 

SITTING, A POSTURE OF MOURNING IN THE EAST. 
Chap. VIII. 

Lamentations ii. 10. 
" The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, 

and keep silence : the virgins of Jerusalem hang 

down their heads to the ground." 

Matthew xxvii. 61. 
" And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, 
sitting over against the sepulchre." See also John xi., 31, 35. 

Sitting is, among the Jews, the posture expressive of 
grief After the decease of a parent, the children sit for 
seven days, on very low stools, without shoes, as mourners 
for the dead.^ 

Mr. Wilson speaks of finding a crowd of women, ^'sitting 
around a recently dug grave (at Bethlehem), lamenting the 
loss of a native of the village, whose body was laid in it. 
Many of them hung down their heads upon their breasts ; 
others were wringing their hands, and wept bitterly, look- 
ing at the same time into the grave." .... 

"Revelation seems to warrant the conclusion, that the 
posture of these women, sitting on the ground, and going 
through a scene expressive of grief, is a very ancient custom, 
since we find this exhibition corresponds with that made 
by the children of Israel after the destruction of Jerusalem." 
(Lam. ii. 10.) 

" The Jews lamented their dispersion in a similar posture. 
'By the rivers of Babylon there we sat down ; yea^ we wept, 
when we remembered Zion.' In reference to these, one of 
the prophets alludes to the desolation of Judea, on account 
of sin. 'She being desolate, shall sit upon the ground.' 
(Isaiah iii. 26.) And, it may be added, as a very striking 
fact, that Judea is symbolically represented on Roman 
medals by the figure of a female, in a sitting posture, at 
the foot of a palm-tree, with her head bent, as if she were 
letting fall her tears upon the ground. The legend is, 
'Judsea Capta.' "f— J?ae Wilson's Travels, vol i., pp. 275 
—277. 

* See a work entitled, Both one in Christ, by A. M. Myers, p. 62. 
t This coin was struck by Vespasian, on the capture of Jerusalem 
The palm-tree is an emblem of Judea, the woman of Jerusalem. 



APPENDIX, 297 

Mr. Carne (in pp. 332 and 333 of his Letters) writes. 
"A female, with part of her robe drawn over her head, or 
veiled, was seen seated by the tombs of her relations on the 
summit of Mount JVtoriah, or along its sides, just beneath 
the walls." 



PLOUGHING. Chap. X. 

Psalm cxxix. 3. 
" The ploughers ploughed upon my back ; they made long 
their furrows." 

On his road to Jerusalem, Mr. Wilson remarks, " The 
husbandmen with ploughs in a state of patriarchal rude- 
ness, were tilling the soil; and what is singular, they 
strewed the surface of the field with seeds, and then 
ploughed them in. The peasants engaged in this culti- 
vation were, in general, armed; but whether this was the 
usage of the country, or to defend them from being robbed 
of their corn, I could not ascertain. One thing, however, 
we know, is, that it was common for seed to be stolen, as 
we may find by referring to the inspired page. (1 Sam. 
xxiii. 1; Job. v. 5; Psalm cxxvi. 6.) The furrows are 
made in a direct line^ and an allusion to this appears to be 
involved in the complaint of the royal Psalmist. (Psalm 
cxxix. 3.") 

Speaking of the land about Ephesus, the same traveller 
writes, ^' The penetration of the plough into the land is 
very shallow, and the furrows are long.'''* — Rae Wilson'' s 
Travels, vol. i., p. 185 ; ii., p. 217. 



THE OX-GOAD. Chap. X. 

Judges iii. 31. 
" And after him was Shamgar, the son of Anath, which 
slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad: 
and he also delivered Israel." 

The goad used in Palestine and Syria, for driving oxea 
while ploughing, is of " extraordinary length, sharp at one 



298 APPENDIX. 

end for driving the cattle, and at the other is a kind of 
spade for cleansing the plough from the weeds and mud 
that retard its motion, so that such goad is necessary to 
avoid the encumbrance of two instruments." — Rae WilsorCs 
Travels^ vol. ii., p. 157. 

Mr. Maundrell describes this implement, which he says 
he found "about eight feet long; and at the bigger end 
about six inches in circumference, armed at the lesser end 
with a sharp prickle for driving the oxen ; and at the other 
end with a small paddle of iron, strong, and massive, for 
cleansing the plough from the clay." — MaundrelVs Travels. 

" It was, no doubt, this latter part of the instrument which 
Shangar used as a battle-axe, and thus killed so many of 
his enemies." — Hartley's Researches^ p. 309. 



WINNOWING. Chap. X. 

Isaiah xxx. 24. 
" The oxen likewise, and the young asses that ear the 
ground, shall eat clean provender which hath been win- 
nowed with the shovel and with the fan." 

Mr. Hartley observes, " I see the Greeks frequently win- 
nowing loith the shovel^ — Hartley'' s Researches^ p. 366. 



PITS FOR CORN. Chap X. 

Jeremiah xli. 8. 
" We have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, 
and of oil, and of honey." 

These " treasures in the field" were doubtless laid up in 
subterranean pits, similar to the mattamores in Barbary, in 
which, Dr. Shaw informs us, they deposite the grain when 
winnowed ; two or three hundred of them being sometimes 
together, and the smallest holding four hiindred bushels. 
The same mode of keeping corn prevails in Syria and the 
Holy Land. — Note on this passage in Treasury Bible, 



APPENDIX. 299 



GRASS. Chap. X 



Isaiah xl. 6, 7. 
"All flesh is grass, and all the godliness thereof is as the 
flower of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth: 
because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the 
people is grass." 

" The 7ery afl*ecting images of Scripture, which compare 
the short-lived existence of man to the decay of the vege- 
table creation, are scarcely understood in this country. The 
verdure is perpetual in England. It is difficult to discover 
a time when it can be said, The grass withereth. But let 
the traveller visit the beautiful plain of Smyrna, or any 
other part of the East, in the month of May, and revisit it 
toward the end of June, and he will perceive the force and 
beauty of these allusions. In May, an appearance of fresh 
verdure and of rich luxuriance everywhere meets I he eye; 
the face of nature is adorned with a carpet of flowers and 
herbage, of the most elegant kind. But a month or six 
weeks subsequently, how changed is the entire scene ! 
The beauty is gone; the grass is withered; the flower is 
faded ; a brown and dusty desert has taken place of a de- 
licious garden. It is, doubtless, to this rapid transformation 
of nature that the Scriptures compare the fate of man." — 
Hartley's Researches^ pp. 214, 215. 



THE VINE. Chap. X. 

There is no one set of images more frequently employed 
in Scripture, to signify various conditions of prosperity or 
adversity, or to typify spiriiual blessings, than those derived 
from the vine, and its mode of cultivation in the East. 

A time of peace and tranquillity is represented by " every 
man's dwelling safely under his vine, and under his fig- 
Iree" (1 Kings iv. 25 \ Micah iv. 4; Zech. iii. 10), plenty 
and prosperity are typified by the "mountains dropping 
down sweet wine." (Joel iii. iS; Amos ix. 13.) The tem- 
poral blessedness of Judah is figured by his "binding his 
foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; 
he washed his garments m wine, and his clothes in the 



300 APPENDIX. 

blood of grapes ; his e3^es shall be red with wine, and his 
teeth white with milk." (Gen. xlix. 11, 12,) 

The chosen people of Jehovah are styled "a noble vine," 
(Jer. ii. 21), and " The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts'^ (Isaiah 
V. 7), under this latter title of a vineyard, both the Jewish 
and Gentile churches are signified (Matt. xxi. 33-41) ; and 
with the time of the vintage, are associated " singing and 
shouting," the tokens of gladness. (Isaiah xvi. 10.) Our 
blessed Savior makes choice of the emblem of a vine, and 
its fruitful branches, to represent his own person, and his 
Qnion with believers. "I am the true vine, ye are the 
branches; herein is my father glorified, that ye bear much 
fruit." (John xv. 1, 5, 8.) "" 

On the other hand, when reproved for their sins and spir- 
itual barrenness, the chosen people are called, "an empty 
vine" (Hosea x. 1), " the degenerate plant of a strange vine" 
(Jer. ii. 21), bringing forth only " v/ild grapes'^ (Isaiah v. 2). 
In the beautiful lamentation for Moab, in Isaiah xvi., the 
vine of Sibmah is said to languish ; " and gladness is taken 
away, and joy out of the plentiful field ; and in the vineyards 
there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: 
the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have 
made their vintage shouting to cease." While the terrible 
judgments of the Messiah upon impenitent sinners are fig- 
ured in these awful words, " I have trodden the wine-press 
alone; and of the people there was none with me;^ for I 
will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my 
fury." (Isaiah Ixiii. 3.) 

So abundant were the vines in Palestine, and so much did 
ihey constitute the riches of the people, that it was requisite 
to have express laws made respecting the conduct of the in- 
habitants with regard to the vineyards. 

Thus, persons who were passing might enter another 
man's vineyard and eat, but might not carry away any of 
his grapes: and when these had been gathered, what fell, 
or was left behind on the vine, was to belong to the *' stran- 
ger, the fatherless, and the widow."* (Deut. xxiii. 24 ; 
xxiv. 21 ; Levit. xix. 10.) 

The vines of Palestine are still peculiarly fine, bearing 
grapes of an extraordinary size. An Italian traveller (Dan- 
dini) says that the grapes of Mount Libanus are as large as 
prunes,! and Doubdan writes that in the country aboui 

* See also p. 306. \ Harmer^s Observations ^ vol. iv., p. 8. 



APPENDIX. 301 

Bethlehem, he found a most delightful valley, full not only 
of aromatic herbs and rose-bushes, but planted with vines, 
which he supposed were of the choicest kind ; and that it 
was indeed the valley of Eschol, whence the spies carried 
that prodigious bunch of grapes to Moses, of which we 
read in the book of Numbers (ch. xiii. 23). "Jt is true," 
says this traveller, "I have seen no such bunches of grapes, 
not having been here in the vintage, but the monks assured 
me that they still find here some that weigh ten or twelve 
pounds/^ — Harmer^s Observations^ vol. iii., p. 285. 

Laborde, speaking of the vines of Idumea, writes. The 
vines of this country, of the fruit of which we saw some 
specimens, account for the enormous grapes which the spies 
sent out by Moses, brought back from the places they had 
vidiediJ'— {Travels, p. 203, 204.) \ 

Mr. Jowett speaks of passing " some well-cultivated 
vineyards near Jerusalem, the produce of which furnishes 
that city with excellent wines. Along the sides of these 
hills, also, we continually see flocks and herds : the sheep 
and goats in the immediate vicinity of the city have a 
very picturesque appearance, as they are slowly driven 
into Jerusalem just before sunset, after which the gates 
are shut ; and from their milk a great part of the support 
of the inhabitants is derived. Thus, when this" seemingly 
unpromising soil was cultivated in perfection, it would 
answer exactly to the promise given to the tribe of Judah, 
" Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto 
the choice vine ; he washed his garments in wine, and his 
clothes in the blood of grapes ; his eyes shall be red with 
wine, and his teeth white with milk." — Jowetfs Researches^ 
pp. 259, 260. 

There is a kind of wild vine which grows near the high- 
ways and hedges of Judea, which has a small grape that 
is black when ripe, and is the wild grape to which the 
prophet compares the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men 
of Judah. (Isaiah v. 2.) These are also the grapes to 
which another prophet refers, when he predicts the ap- 
proaching judgment on that rebellious people. (Ezek. xviii. 
2.) — Rae Wilson's Travels, vol i., p. 237. 

The vineyards produce different kinds of grapes, which 
are white, black, and red. To the juice of the last frequent 
references are made in the Scriptures ; and, with striking 
propriety, an inspired writer calls it, the pure hlood of the 

26 



302 APPENDIX. 

grape. (Deut. xxxii. 14; Isaiah Ixiii. 2.) — Rae Wilson's 
Travels^ vol. i., p. 237. 

The wines of Lebanon are still celebrated. Le Bruyn 
speaks of their being the finest ia the world, so that we 
can understand why the prophet Hosea should have derived 
a comparison from them, when he says (ch. xiv. 7), " The 
scent thereof," rather, the " memorial^''^ as it is rendered in 
the margin, "shall be as the wine of Lebanon,'''* — Ha7'mer^s 
Observations, vol. iii., pp. 286-290. 

Sweet wines are those most esteemed in the East, being 
more full and rich, and capable of being kept (Luke v. 39) ; 
and these were anciently appropriated to the use of mon- 
archs and persons of rank. " Royal wine in abundance, 
according to the state of the king" (Esther i. 7), which 
words, by the ancient Eastern translators of the Septuagint, 
are rendered "much and sweet wines, such as the king 
himself drank." It is probable that the word translated 
new wine, in loel iii. IS, and in Acts ii. 13, should be sweet, 
or full, rich, strong wine. — See Harmer^s Observations, vol. 
ii., pp. 146-149. 

This fact may explain the conduct of the military who 
attended the crucifixion of the Lord of Glory, as it was 
most likely in derision of his claim to royal authority that 
they offered him vinegar, or wine in a state of strong 
acidity, instead of good or generous wine. — Rae Wilson^s 
Travels, vol. i., p. 237. 

The leaves first appear on the vine about the beginning of 
March. The grape ripens toward the latter end of July ; 
and when surrounded with Arabs, Judea, through fear of 
them, became obliged to hurry on the vintage, but the wine 
made in this manner could not be sweet wine. The grapes 
hanging low on the trees makes the wine much richer and 
sweeter; and thus Amos, in the ninth chapter and thirteenth 
verse of his prophecy, writes, "Behold, the days come, 
saiih the Lord, that the ploughman shall overtake the 
reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed ; 
and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills 
shall melt;" that is, the days shall come, when th*e grapes 
shall not be gathered, as they were wont before to be, in a 
state of immaturity, for fear of Arabs, or other destroying 
nations; but they shall be suffered to hang even till the time 
of ploughing, so perfect shall be the security of those times. 

We find that in a province of Egypt, which is surrounded 



APPENDIX. 306 

with Arabs, who frequently make excursions into it, espe- 
cially in the. season in which fruits, which it produces in 
great abundance, begin to ripen, the inhabitants are obliged 
to gather them unripe, and send them to Cairo; and the 
wine of that province has in consequence degenerated, 
though once remarkable for its excellence. This adds fresh 
force to the promise, that the time of treading grapes should 
be delayed till they should be in such perfection that " the 
mountains should drop sweet wine." 

The vintage of Aleppo^ lasts from the 15th of September 
to the same day of November, and nothing is more common 
there, than this running of the vintage and sowing-season 
into one, the latter beginning toward the close of October, 
and lasting all November; and thus the treader of grapes 
would continually overtake, or meet, with him that soweth 
seed. — Harmer^s Observations, vol. iii., pp. 211-214. 

The grapes were trodden (Isaiah Ixiii, 3; xvi. 10), with 
the feett to make the wine. Dr. Chandler thus describes 
the beginning of the vintage he saw in Greece. " The 
black grapes [were] spread on the ground in beds, exposed 
to the sun to dry for raisins : while, in another part, the 
juice was expressed for wine ; a man, with feet and legs 
bare, treading the fruit in a kind of cistern, with a hole or 
vent near the bottom, and a vessel beneath it to receive the 
liquor. — Harmer^s Observations, vol. iii., p. 274. 

The tame cattle are very fond of vine-leaves, and are 
permitted to eat them in the autumn ; for about Smyrna, 
Dr. Chandler remarked that the leaves were stripped by the 
camels and herds of goats, who are admitted to browse 
after the vintage. This explains why Moses, by a direct 
law, forbade a man's causing another's vineyard to be eaten, 
by putting in his beast. (Exodus xxii. 5.)—'Harmer's Ob- 
servations, vol. iii., 281, 282. 

The fox of Palestine is a great destroyer of grapes, as of 
old. (Cant. ii. 15.)—Rae Wilson's Travels, vol. i., p. 394, 
lote. 

* The vegetable productions of Judea and Aleppo are nearly con- 
temporary. — Harmer^s Observations, i., 213. 
t Olives were in like manner trodden to express the oil. 



304 APPENDIX. 



BELLS WORN BY HORSES. Chap. XIV 

Zechariah xiv. 20. 
"In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses. 
Holiness unto the Lord." 

The charger which the English consul at Damietta rode 
on, a remarkably fine spirited animal, had a bell hung 
round his neck, which brings us to observe that in tne 
early ages bells appear to have been a symbol of victory or 
dominion. Thus, as horses were employed in war, and 
distinguished for strength, stateliness, and courage, these 
kind of tinkling cymbals became part of their martial fur- 
niture. The Jewish warrior adorned his animal with the 
same ornaments which the prophet foretells shall in future 
be consecrated to the service of Grod. — Rae Wilson^ s Travels, 
vol. i., p. 145. 



THE ARABIAN CAMEL. Chap. XIV. 

Jeremiah ii. 23. 
•' Thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways." 

Over the arid and thirsty deserts of Asia and Africa, the 
camel affords to man the only means of intercourse between 
one country and another. The camel has been created with 
an especial adaptation to the regions wherein it has con- 
tributed to the comfort, and even to the very existence, of 
man, from the earliest ages. It is formed to endure the 
severest hardships; its feet are made to tread lightly upon 
a dry and shifting soil; its nostrils have the capacity of 
closing, so as to shut out the driving sand, when the whirl- 
wind scatters it over the desert; it is provided with a 
peculiar apparatus for retaining water in its stomach, so 
that it can march from well to well without great incon- 
venience, although they be several hundred miles apart. 
And thus, when a company of Eastern merchants cross 
from Aleppo to Bussoia, over a plain of sand which offers 
no refreshment, the whole journey being eight hundreu 
miles, the camel of the heavy caravan moves cheerfully 
along, with a burden of six or seven hundred weight, at 



APPENDIX. 305 

the rate of twenty miles a day ; while those of greater speed, 
that carry a man without much other load, go lor ward at 
double that pace and daily distance. Patient under his 
duties, he kneels down at the C9mmand of his driver, and 
rises up cheerfully with his load ; he requires no whip or 
spur during his monotonous march ; but, like many other 
animals, he feels an evident pleasure in musical sounds ; and 
therefore, when fatigue comes upon him, the driver sings 
some cheering snatch of his Arabian melodies, and the 
delighted creature toils forward with a brisker step, till the 
hour of rest arrives, when he again kneels down to have 
his load removed for a little while; and if the stock of food 
be not exhausted, he is further rewarded with a few mouth- 
fuls of the cake of barley, which he carries for the suste- 
nance of his master and himself. Under a burning sun, 
upon tn arid soil, enduring great fatigue, and seldom com- 
pletely slaking his thirst, more than once during a progress 
of several hundred miles, the camel is patient, and appa- 
rently happy. He. ordinarily lives to a great age, and is 
seldom visited by any disease. 

Camels are of two species ; that with one hump is usually 
called the dromedary — these are used for riding. The 
camel of the heavy caravan, the baggage-camel, may be 
compared to the dray-horse ; the dromedary to the hunter 
and in some instances, to the race-horse. Messengers on 
dromedaries, according to Eurckhardt, have gone in eight 
days the same journey he has been twenty-two days accom- 
plishing, and there is an account of a swift dromedary 
recorded, who carried his rider from Mogadore to Morocco, 
the distance of one hundred miles, starting at dawn of day, 
and returning to Mogadore the same night, after the gates 
were shut. 

The average load of the heavy, or slow-going camel, is 
from five hundred to six hundred pounds ; sometimes it 
carries large panniers, filled with heavy goods ; sometimes 
bales are strapped on his back, fastened with cordage made 
of the palm-tree, or with leathern thongs; and sometimes 
two or more, will bear a sort of litter, in which women and 
children ride with considerable ease. The expense of main- 
taining these valuable creatures is remarkably little ; a cake 
of barley, a few dates, or a handful of beans, will suffice, 
in addition to the hard and prickly shrubs which they find 
in every district but the very wildest of the desert. They 

26^ 



806 APPENDIX. 

are particularly fond of those vegetable productions which 
other animals would never touch, such as plants which are 
like spears and daggers, in comparison with the needles of 
the thistle, and which often pierce the incautious traveller's 
boot. He might wish such thorns eradicated from the 
earth, if he did not behold the camel contentedly browsing 
upon them; for he thus learns that Providence has made 
nothing in vain. Their teeth are peculiarly adapted for 
such a diet. Differing from all other ruminating tribes, 
they have two strong cutting teeth in the upper jaw ; and 
of the six grinding teeth, one on each side, in the same 
jaw, has a crooked form : their canine teeth, of which they 
have two in each jaw, are very strong ; and in the lower 
jaw the two external cutting teeth have ti pointed form, 
and the foremost of the grinders is also pointed, and crooked. 
They are thus provided with a most formidable ap^ratus 
for cutting and tearing the hardest vegetable substance. 
But the camel is, at the same time, organized so as to graze 
upon the finest herbage, and browse upon the most delicate 
leaves; for his upper lip being divided, he is enabled to nip 
off the tender shoots, and turn them into his mouth with 
the greatest facility. Whether the sustenance, therefore, 
which he finds, be of the coarsest or the softest kind, he is 
equally prepared to be satisfied with, and to enjoy it. — See 
Penny Magazine^ No. 63. 



GREEK PRONUNCIATION. Chap. XVIIl. 

Judges xii. 6. 
"Then said they unto him. Say now Shibboleth; and 
he said, Sibboleth : for he could not frame to pronounce it 
right." 

The Greeks have not the sound sh in their language; 
hence they are liable to be detected, like the Ephraimites. 
I was struck with this circumstance in learning Turkish 
from a Greek tutor. Pasha^ he pronounced Pasa ; Shimdi, 
he called Simdi ; Dervish, Dervis, &:c. ; Shibboleth he would, 
of course, pronounce Sibboleth. — Hartley^s Researches, pp. 
210, 211. 



APPENDIX. 307 

HONORS PAID BY THE BURMESE TO GAUDAMA 
Chap. XVIII. 

HosEA ii. 8. 
"She did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and 
oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared 
for Baal." 

In describing the worship paid by the Burmese to their 
god, Gaudama (whose celebrated pagoda, or temple, is near 
the city of Rangoon, situated on a small hill, surrounded by 
many smaller pagodas), Mr. Malcom writes : **I visited 
the pagoda frequently, about sunrise, as it is the only di- 
rection in which one can ride. There were always twenty- 
five or thirty worshippers scattered up and down, and on 
the regular worship-days, several hundred. They come and 
go during the cool of the morning, remaining about fifteen 
minutes, and amounting, as I was told, on the whole to 
:wo or three thousand. Every one brings a present ; often 
a bunch of flowers, or only a few green twigs, plucked on 
the way; but generally the nicest eatables ready cooked, 
beautiful bunches of flowers, articles of raiment, &;c. The 
amount of offerings here is very great. Stone vases, some 
of which will hold fifty or sixty gallons, stand round the 
pagoda, into which the devotees carefully lay their leafy 
plates of rice, plantains, cakes, &c. As these are succes- 
sively filled, appointed persons from among the pagoda 
slaves^ empty them into their vessels, assorting the various 
kinds. The beautiful flowers remain all night, and are 
swept out in the morning. The reproof of Jehovah to 
Israel by the prophet, often came strongly to my mind, as 
these crowds passed on with their beautiful flowers, and 
the finest of the fruits of the earth : — ' She did not know 
that /gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her 
silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.' How 
boundless the goodness and forbearance of God ! * Will a 
man rob God?' Yet these rob him of tithes and offerings 
bestowed on their senseless images, and take *his fruits of 
the earth to do honor to the things his soul abhors." — Mai 
corrCs Travels in Southeastern Asia, vol. i., p. 81. 

* There are in the vicinity of the hill, a hundred and fifty families 
of " Slaves of the Pagoda," who are not allowed to marry, except 
among themselves. 



308 APPENDIX. 

OATHS IN JUDEA. Chap. XVIII. 

Mattheav v. 36. 
"Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou 
canst not make one hair white or black." 

Mr. Jowett writes, that on one occasion, when leaving 
Jerusalem, his guide '' laid both hands upon his turban, to 
assure me, with their usual oath, ' Upon my head,' that he 
would serve me faithfully. This is the commonest oath of 
the country, * On my head." Another most common oath 
with the Arabs is W Allah; an appeal to the Sacred Name. 
The remark, an oath for confirmation is an end of all strife 
(to men, Hebrews vi. 16), is often curiously exemplified 
by the Arabs, in their most common transactions. After 
wrangling a long time, with a vehemence and a pertinacity, 
which seem to shut out all hope of conciliation, they will, 
(if suffered by the traveller to take their own time), sud- 
denly come to terms: their chief, who has watched the 
furious debate, and in good part fomented it, marks the 
auspicious moment, clenches the question, gives the signal 
W^ Allah, and at once all is settled ; every man proceeds 
to his post, whether it be loading or unloading animals, or 
setting off on a journey, &c. The man, who a minute 
before defied and insulted the traveller to his face, will then 
come smiling and fawning about him. It is best, on these 
occasions, not to contend; neither to rage., nor laugh with 
them. (Prov. xxix. 9.) — JowetVs Researches in Syria, <5fC,, 
p. 269, note. 



SHRINES. Chap, XVIIL 

Acts xix. 24. 
" A certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which 
made silver shrines for Diana» brought no small gain unto 
the craftsmen." 

The false goddess Diana was worshipped in Asia Minor, 
and throughout the then known world, and a most raag- 
nificerit temple was erected to her at Ephesus. The word 
which we translate shrines, is in the Greek, temples. It 
was the custom with the Greeks and other heathen nations 



APPENDIX. 309 

to make little models of a temple, and place a small image 
therein, in order to carry with them when they travelled or 
went to war, as also for their private devotion at home; 
and indeed, the making such temples continues to be the 
custom in some of the heathen nations to this day. A very 
curious one of this sort I have seen brought here from the 
East Indies. — See Biscoe on the Acts^ pp. 274-276. 

Mr. Jowett speaks of seeing, among other like articles of 
sale, brought to Jerusalem from a manufactory at Beth- 
lehem, a model in wood, inlaid with ivory, of the chapel 
built over the Holy Sepulchre. " Of the various trinkets 
which they showed, no one served better than this to il- 
lustrate the expression translated in our English version, 
'Silver shrines for Diana ;^ the original means, 'Silver mod- 
els of the temple of Diana.^ Whether made very small, or 
entirely wrought in silver, or, if larger, inlaid or washed 
with silver, is of little moment. In all the Levant, and in 
Roman Catholic countries, the Pagan traffic, so inimitably 
described by the prophet Isaiah (2I. 19, 20; xli. 6, 7; xliv. 
12-17 ; xlvi. 6), continues in fuL activity.^'— Jbi^^^^'^ Re* 
searches^ pp. 264, 2Qru 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Jrabs» Their hospitality, i., 6-8 — Appendix, 291 — Depreda- 
tions, xvi., 259, 260— Characteristic features, 264-267— 
Singular history of the Arabs a fulfilment of prophecy, 
267-269 — their mode of dwelling and of flight, xvi., 
260-262— Arab tents, i., 9, 10; iii., 52— Encan.pments 
and journeyings, xvi., 262-264, see Flocks and Herds — 
Arab utensils, iii., 46, 49, 52, 53 — manner of baking and 
churning, iii., 57-59 — Arab travelling, ix., 148, 149 — 
Arab guides, see Guides — Arab cloak, vi., 114 — Extem- 
pore songs and tales, i., 1 1— salutations, iv., 94 

Agreement^ mark of, iv., 101 — manner of expressing it, xi., 176, 
177 

Assemhlies of mourners, viii., 136, 137 

Agriculture, x,, 155-171 

Apples, x., 169, 170 

Ass — wild ass, xiv., 212-214 — white ass, 214 

Actions, significant, much used in the East, xviii., 277 

Bottles, leathern, iii., 52, 53 

Beds, iii., 55, 56 

Baking, iii., 57, 58 

Birth — manner of announcing it — ceremonies after it — See Chil- 
dren 

Beard — kissing it a mark of respect, iv., 93 — shaving the beard, 
vi., 120-122 

Books (ancient) vii., 128-130 

Baldness a sign of grief, viii., 141, 143 

Corner of a divan, the place of honor, iii., 54, 55 

Churning, iii., 58, 59 

Children — manner of announcing the birth of a son in Persia, 
iii., 83, 84 — ceremonies after it, 84, 85—" bringers up o! 
children,'' 85, 86 — ^manner of carrying children, 86 

Customs relating to the dead, viii., 136-145 

Corn — method of gathering, winnowing, and threshing it, x., 
159-162— Appendix, 299— see Pits 

Courts of justice, xi., 181, 182 

Curious mode of decision, xi., 183 

Crocodiles— method of catching them, xiv., 215-219 

Cock-crowing in the East, xiv., 221 

Citron-tree, x., 169, 170 



INDEX. 311 

Climate— hent and cold, xv., 240, 241— frost and snow, 242, 243 
— wet seasons, 244 — dry summers, 249 — See also Haih 
storms and Mains 
Caravansaries — Appendix, 29 J -293 
Camely Arabian — Appendix, 305-307 
Divans, iii., 54, 55 

Deputations of great men a mark of honor, iv., 87, 88 
Dress, vi., 109-126 — splendor of the Eastern dresses, 123-125 
Drawing on tiles, vii., 131 
Deserts, xiii., 202-208 
Dogs, xiv., 214, 215 

Eating, nianner of — men and women eat separately, iii., 59-62— 
portions sent from the tables of great men a mark of hon- 
or, iv., 96 — see Repasts 
Eyes, painting the, vi., 118-120 
Enmity, token of, xviii., 277, 278 
Flowers used as fuel, iii., 45 

Feasts — invitations to them, iii., 63, 64 — Persian feast, 64-67 — 
Egyptian feast, 67, 68 — feast of tabernacles, 69, 70 — 
weaning feast, 85 — funeral feasts, viii., 142 — see Passover 
Friendship, token of, iv., 98-100 — see Garments 
Feet — ^Idssing the feet, iv., 92, 93 — concealing, and holding the 
feet, 96 — uncovering the feet, viii., 141 — Appendix, 297 — 
see Respect 
Footmen (running), ix., 150, 151 
Flocks and herds, xii., 184-186 
Folds, see Sheep 
Fountains, xiii., 197, 198 
Flies, xiv., 237 
Frost, see Climate 

Funerals — Appendix, 296 — see Feasts 
Fox of Palestine, Appendix, 304 
Guests, customs in dismissing, i., 10, 11 
Gates, ii., 20-22 

Garments — presents of them a mark of favor, iv., 100, 101— 
flowing garments, vi., 109, 110 — party-colored garments^ 
113, 114 — wedding-garment, 115, 116 
Gardens, x., 164 — watering gardens, 165, 166 
Guides — their importance, ix., 149, 150 
Grafting, x., 166 

Grief, signs of — see Customs relating to the Dead 
Gaines, Eastern, xviii., 280, 281 
Grass, Appendix, 300 

Grapes, laws concerning them — their size — different kinds of 
grapes — time of their ripening — vintage — treading of 
grapes — ^Appendix, 301, 304 



312 INDEX. 

Hospitality of the Eastern nations, i., 1-9 — xiii., J 96— see Ap- 
pendix, 291 

Borises, Eastern, ii.. 12, 13 — hangings for houses, 13, 14 — house- 
tops, 15 18 — house-breaking, 24 — house of the dead, 25, 
26 — dove-houses, x., 156-158 — see also Roofs 

Horns used as drinking-vessels, and for sacred purposes, iii., 53, 
54 — worn as ornaments and tokens of authority, vi., 122, 
123 

Honoring distinguished persons ^ several ways of, iv., 87-92 — see 
Corner and Presents 

Honors paid to Guadama — Appendix, 308 

Hand — kissing it a mark of respect and affection, iv., 93, 94 

Hyke, or upper garment, vi., Ill, 112 

Head, uncovering the — see Grief 

Highways, ix., 153 

Hay not used in the East, 10., 163 

Herds, see Flocks 

Horse, Arabian, xiv., 211, 212— xvi., 262 

Horses ornamented with bells — Appendix, 305 

Hunting, see Partridges 

Hail-storms, xv., 242-244 

Hiding treasures — see Treasures 

Invitations to feasts, &c., iii., 63, 64 

Idolatrous cuttings of the flesh, viii., 142, 143 

Israelites, see March 

Influence, maternal, xviii., 281 

Kneeling on the sea-shore, ii., 36, 37 

Kneading-Xrowghs, iii., 49 

Kissing — the feet, knees, robe, beard. Sec, methods of salutation 
and marks of respect, iv., 92-94 — kissing the hand a sign 
of adoration, 94 — kissing the ground a token of subjec- 
tion, iv., 95, 96 

Locks, the kind used in the East, ii., 20-22 

Lamps, iii., 49, 50 

Lips, covering the — see Grief 

Laborers, mode of hiring, xi., 175, 176 

Laws, Eastern, xi., 182 

Lio7is, xiv., 210, 211 

Locusts, xiv., 227-236 

Locust-tree, xiv., 237 

Leprosy, xviii., 273, 274 

Music used before journeys, i., 10, 1 1 — mournful music used on 
solemn occasions, viii., 140 

Mortar, Eastern, ii., 23, 24 

Mills, millstones, iii., 46-49 

Marriage ceremonies^ iii., 81-83 



INDEX. 313 

Mountains (written) — see Writing 

Mourning women — tumultuous grief of the mourners, viii., 
137-141 — forty days mourning, 144 — see also Jlssembliesy 
and Music 

March of the Israelites, ix., 145-148 

Messengers, ix., 151-153 

Mustard-seed, x., 164 

Markets, xi., 171, 172 

Money-weighing, xi., 178 

Mountainous pastures — -see Pastures 

Mirage, xiii., 208, 209 

Mice, xiv., 226, 227 

Moonlight prejudicial in the East, xv., 239, 240 

Mouth, smiting on the, xviii, 276 

MLrks, religious, xviii., 284 

Noise and tumult frequent on occasions of the death of any per- 
son in the East, viii., 138-141 

ISFails fixed in Eastern walls — A ppendix, 294, 295 

Oak, Gideon's, i., 5, 6 

Oratories, ii., 36, 37 

Ornamenis, vi., 116-118 

Oxen used in treading out grain, x., 162, 163 — ox-goad — Appen- 
dix, 298, 299 

Oaths — Appendix, 309 

Pavements, Eastern, ii., 23 

Provisions, see Eating 

Passover, iii., 70-77 

Presents to friends and relations — great men — public dancers, 
v., 105-108 — see also Garments 

Painting the eyes — see Eyes 

Ploughshares, x., 155, 156 — ploughing— Appendix, 298 

Pigeon-houses — see Dove-houses 

Pools of Solomon, xiii., 198-201 

Pits, xiii., 201, 202 — pits for corn — Appendix, 299 

Partridges, hunting, xiv., 220, 221 

Potters, Eastern, xviii., 275, 276 

Pronunciation (Greek)-— Appendix, 307 

Roofs, Eastern, ii., 18, 19 — ^Appendix, 294 

Bepasts on the sea-shore, iii., 68, 69 

Riding — on the royal horse, iv., 88, 89 — manner of riding, ix., 151 

Respect, marks of, iv., 92-98 

Reading, manner of, vii., 130. 131 

Ring, signet, vii., 131, 133 

Rains — early and latter rains — signs of rain, xv., 244-249 

Rechabites, xvii., 270-273 

Religious customs in Judea, China, and Persia, xviii., 284, 285 

27 
t 



314 INDEX, 

Roman soldiers— militsiYY subordination among the Romans, xviii.^ 

285, 286 
Stables, ii., 24, 25 
Sepulchres, Jewish, ii., 28-32— sepulchres of the kings of Judah 

— of the judges — Appendix, 293, 294— see Tombs 
Seats, stones used as, iii., 66, 57 

Shoes — putting off the shoes a mark of respect, iv., 97, 98 
Salutations, iv., 102-104 — see jlrabs 
Sealing with clay, vil., 134 
Sacrifices sealed in Egypt, vii., 134, 135 — offered to idols in high 

places, xviii., 283 
Standards, ix., 153, 154 

Streets appropriated to particular trades, xi., 171, 172 
Sheep and shepherds — ^sheep-folds, xiix, 186-190 
Storks, xiv., 220 
Serpents, xiv., 221-224 
Scorpions, xiv., 224-226 
Salt, xiv., 238 
Snow — see Climate 
Seasons — see Climate 
Simoom, xv., 250-253 
Sto7ies erected as memorials, xviii., 278, 279 — ^white stone, iv., 

98-100— see Seats 
Shrines, xviii., 2S2— Appendix, 309, 310 
Spoils suspended in sacred places, xviii., 282, 283 
Soldiers — see Roman soldiers 
Sitting, a posture of mourning in the East — Appendix, 297, 298 

— see Customs relating to the Dead 
Tents, Abraham's, i., 1-3 — striking the tents, 9, 10 — hangings 

for tents, ii., 13, 14 
Thresholds, ii., 22 
Tombs, Eastern, ii., 26-28 
Temple of Dagon, ii., 32, 33 
Tourer of Mahanaim, ii., 33-35 
Tiles, drawing on — see Drawing — used for pavements — see Pam- 

ments 
Travelling, ix., 145-155 
Threshing — see Corn 
Tares, X., 163, 164 
Trades — see Streets 
Taskmasters, xi., 172-175 
Tax-gatherers, xi., 179, 180 
Tartars, xvi., 257-259 

Treasures — method of hiding them, xviii., 288, 289 
Fei7-face, vi., 115 
Vines and Vineyards, x., 166, 167, 168— Appendix, 300-304 



INDEX. ^ 315 

Walls, Eastern, ii., 19, 20 

Water — drawn by women, iii., 38-40, 41 ; xiii., 196 — implements 
for drawing it, xiii., 195 — offered to travellers, iii., 40, 41 
— water-carriers, 41, 42 

Water-pots of Cana, iii., 50-52 

Watering, method of, x., 158, 159 — watering gardens, 165, 166 

Washing, manner of^ — the hands — feet, iii., 42-45 

Wood- young men and children taken to carry, iii., 45, 46 

Wines — Appendix, 303, 304 — wine-presses, x., 168, 169 — Ap- 
pendix, 304 — straining wine, iii., 59 

Wedding, Jewish, iii., 77-81 

Writing, various methods of — written mountains — writing tables, 
vii., 126-128 

Wells, xiii., 191-197 

Water-spouts, xv., 253, 254 

Whirlwinds, xv., 255, 256 

War/are, barbarous custom in Eastern, xviii., 287 



INDEX OF TEXTS ILLUSTRATED. 



jdii, 1-end . 
Tviii. 1-11 
»»— 4 

6 .. 

6-JO .. 

xxi. 8 . . 

14 .. 

xxiii. 10, 11 

16 .. 

xxiv. 11-22 

16-20 

22 

64 . . 

65 

xxvi. 15 . . 
xxvii. 14-18 
xxviii. 18-22 
xxix. 2, 3 
xxxi. 27 . . 

40 

46 .. 

xxxii. . . 

xxxiii. 4 
xxxvii. 3 , . 

12-17 

xli. 41, 42 
xliii. 34 
xlv. 2 

14 

22 .. 

xlix. 22 
1.3 



i.8-14 ,. 
ill. 5 

V, 

13, 14 

ix. 23-25 
X. 12-15 .. 
xi. 5 
xii. 8-27 .. 

11 

34 .. 

xxi. 24 
xxii. 5 
xxiv. 10 



GENESIS, 



EXODUS 





xxvi. 36 . . 


184-186 


xxxii. 2 


1-5 


xxxiii. 4 . . 


44,45 




57,58 


I 


62 


ii.4-7 .. 


85 


xi.33 


52 


xiii. 45 


177 


46 .. 


178 


xiv. 40 


38, 39 


xix. 10 .. 


196, 197 


28 


117,118 




98 




115 


ii. 2 


193, 194 


VI. 


62 


IX. 21 


278,279 


X. 2, 5, 12, 27 


194 


— 31 


10,11 


xiii. 23 


240, 241 


xvi. 15 


56,57 


xxii. 15 


148, 149 




185, 186 


DEI 


93,94 


i.28 


113,114 


viii. 15 


185, 186 


xi. 10, 11 .. 


131-133 


— 13, 14 


90 


xii. 2, 3 .. 


140-142 


xiv. 1 . . 


93,94 


xxii. 8 


105 


xxiii. 24 


168 


xxiv. 6 


144 


13 




— 21 .. 




XXV. 4 . . 


173-175 


xxxii. 5 


97,98 


10 


172-175 


14 .. 


173-175 




242-244 




231-235 


ii. 6 . . 


48 


ix.4 


70-77 


X. 11 .. 


111,112 




49 




182 


i. 14 


304 


iii. 18 .. 


23 


— 31 



Page 13, 14 
116,117 
.. 136,137 



LEVITICUS. 



NUMBERS. 



57,58 

265 

140-142 

273 

24 

301 

142, 143 



145-148 

85 

145-148 

145-148 

149, 150 

302 

106 

87,88 



DEUTERONOMY. 

..19,20 
205-226, 207, 224 
.. 158,159 

315-247 
.. 283 

142,143 
.. 15-17 

301 
.. 49 

111 
..301 

162,163 
..284 



JOSHUA. 



JUDGES. 



.. 303 



15 

52,53 
243, 244 



106 
298, 299 



INDEX OF TEXTS ILLUSTRATED. 



317 



iv. 19 
V. 10 
— 30 .. 
vi. 11-19 .. 
viii.5, 8, 16, 17.. 

26 .. 

xii. 6 . . 
xiv. 1-13 .. 
XV. 17-19 
xvi. 27-30 . . 



ii. 14 
iii. 2 



1.9 
-11 

-29 .. 
vi. 5 

ix. 7 .. 
— 11 
x. 27 . . 
xvi. 13 
xviii. 4 
- — 6,7 
xix. 24 
XX. 30 
xxii. 6 .. 
XXV. 23 
xxvi. 7 

20 

xxviii. 23 



RUTH. 



Page 58, 59 
.. 214 

113,114 
.. 5,6 

106 
.. 117,118 

307 
.. 81-83 

197,198 
.. 32,33 



62 
160, 161 



1 SAMUEL, 



2 SAMUEL. 




i.39 .. 
ii. 34 
iii. 24-27 
iv 25 
— 28 .. 
xiii. 30 
xiv. 3 .. 
xviii. 28 

45 

46 

23ii. 11 



1 KINGS 



27* 



22 
, 84,85 

85 

226, 227 

105-107 
, 38,39 

106 
. 53,54 

100, 101 
. 10,11 

112 
. 281 

90,91 
. 98 

92 
. 220,221 

54 



282, 283 
65 

120-122 
15 

11.3,114 
106 
33-35 
12 
, 33-35 
92-94 
25,26 



53,54 

26 

183 

300 

163 

137-140 

106 

142, 143 

247-249 

150, 151 

123 



i. 2 

iii. 11 .. 

— 17 

— 19 .. 
iv. 10 

— 24 .. 

— 29 

V. 5 .. 

— 21 

— 27 .. 
vi.25 
vii. 1 . . 

IX. 2 

— 28 .. 

— 30 

X. 5 .. 

— 8 

xix. 26 .. 
xxiii. 30 
XXV. 28 
30 



vi. 2. , 

viii. 16 
ix. 8 . 
X. 9 



vi. 7-9 

vii. 8 . 



2 KINGS. 



EZRA. 



ESTHER 



Page 15 

43,44 
247, 249 
277, 278 
12,13 
151 

103, 104 
105 
98 
274 
157 
171 
12, 13 
293, 294 
118-120 
85,86 
, 287 
252, 253 
295, 296 
66 
65 



128, 129 
178 

294, 295 
241, 242 



JOB. 
i. 20 

vii. 12 . , 
ix. 25 
xviii. 5, 6 
xix. 23, 24 
xxi. 17 .. 
xxvii. 16 .. 
xxix. 6 

10 .. 

2, 4, 19, 20 

XXX. 23 . . 
xxxi. 26, 27 
xxxviii. 14 
xxxix. 19, 25 , . 
xli 

PSALMS 
ix. 15 .. 
xxxii. 4 

xlii. 7 .. 

xiv. 9, 13, 14, 15 ., 

ivi. 8 .. 

Iviii. 4, 5 .. 

lix. 14, 15 



. 54 

303 
9, 100, 101 

54,55 



140-142 
215-218 
151,153 
49,50 
126, 127 
49,50 
106 
58,59 
, 277 
244 
26 
94 
134 

211,212 
218,219 



211 

249 

253, 254 
78-81 
136, 137 
, 221-224 
214, 215 



318 



INDEX OF TEXTS ILLUSTRATED. 



Ix. 8 Pacre97,98 


vi.2 


Page 96 


Jxviii. 13 . . 


158 


viii. 1 . . 


128,129 


lxix.28 


126,127 


xvi. 10 .. 


..301 


Ixxii. 9 .. .. 


95, 96 


xvii. 13 


255, 256 


10 


106 


xxi. 1 


.. 250,252 


Ixxv. 5, 10 


122, 123 


xxii. 1 .. 


17 


Ixxviii. 47, 48 .. 


243 


23 .. 


.. 294,295 


Ixxx. 13 .. 


166, 167 


xxviii. 28 


163 


Ixxxiii. 13 


255, 256 


xxix. 8 


.. 204,205 


Ixxxiv. 5-7 . . . . 


191-193 


XXX. 13 


24 ' 


xcii. 10 


122, 123 


24 .. 


..299 


ciii. 16 


252, 253 


xxxii. 2 


203, 204 


cv. 32 .. 


243 


20 .. 


.. 155 


cvii. 4, 5 .. „, 


204, 205 


xxxiv. 4 


128,129 


cxxi. 6 .. 


239, 240 


XXXV. 7 


. . 203, 204, 208, 209 


cxxviii. 3 ., 


168 


xxxvii. 36 


250, 252 


cxxix. 3 


298 


xxxviii. 12 


.. 9.10 


6 .. .. 18,19 


, 159, 160 


xl. 6, 7 


300 


8 


102 


-24 


.. 255,256 


cxxxv. 7 . . 


247-249 


xii. 18, 19 


202-204 


cxlvii. 16, 17 .. 


241,242 


xliv. 3, 4 .. 


.. 202-204 






xlvii. 1,2 


48 


PROVERBS." 




xlix. 9, 11 


.. 201 


i, 27 . . . . ' . . 


250-252 


10 


203 


vi. 13 


176, 177 


22 .. 


.. 86 


ix. 2-5 


63 


23 


95,96 


xi. 21 


101 


Hi. 2, 10 .. 


.. 109,110 


xiii. 9 


50 


liv. 3 .. 


2,14 


xvi. 15 


245-247 


IviM. 11 .. 


.. 164,165 


xvii. 19 


259,260 


lx.8 .. 


156,157 


XX. 26 


161 


ixii. 10 .. 


.. 153,154 


xxii. 14 


201.202 


Ixiii. 2.. 


303 


xyiii.27 


202 


— ~ 13, 14 


.. 261,262 


xxv.il 


169, 170 






14 


247-249 


JEREMIAH. 


xxvii. 15 .. 


296 


ii.6 


.. 207 






— 21 .. 


301 


ECCLESIASTES. 




— 23 


.. 305-307 


ii.4-6 


198-201 


— 24 .. 


212-214 


iii. 5 .. 


277, 278 


iii. 2 


..260 


X.7 


88 


iv. 30 . . 


119 


xi. 4 .. 


249 


viii. 7 


..220 


xii. 6 


165, 166 


ix. 2 .. 


291-293 






X. 13. 


.. 247-249 


CANTICLES. 




— 17-19 


137-140 


ii.3-5 


139,170 


xiv. 6 .. 


.. 212-214 


— 9 


81 


xvi. 5-8 


140-142 


— 15 


304 


6 .. 


.. 142,143 


iv. 12 .. .. 194 


, 199-201 


xvii. 13 


126,127 


V.4 .. 


21,22 


xviii. 1-6 .. 


.. 275,276 


vii. 8 


169, 170 


XX. 15 


83,84 






xxii. 18 .. 


.. 137-140 


ISAIAH. 




XXV. 10, 11 


48,50 , 


ii.4 


155, 156 


xxxii. J4 .. 


.. 129 


iii. 16. 18 


116 


xxxiii. 13 


188 


— 21 


116,117 


XXXV. 5-8, 18, 19 


.. 270-272 


— 26 


297 


xxxvii. 21 


171,172 


V.2 .. 


301,302 


xli.8 


..299 


-7 


301 


xlix. 8, 30 


260,261 


-11 .c 


67 


li. 14 


..228-231 



INDEX OF TEXTS ILLUSTRATED. 



519 



LAMENTATIONS. 



a. 3 .. 


,, 


— 10 


. 


V. 13 . . 


•• 


ii. 9, 10 


EZEKIEL 


IV. I. 




— 16,17 


, , 


ix. 2-4 




xii. 18, 19 


, , 


xiii. 11 . 




xvi. 12 


,. 


xviii. 2 




xix. 6-8 


, , 


xxiii. 41 « 




xxiv. 17 


« • 


xxxiii. 30 . 




xliii. 8 . , 


•• 




DANIEL. 


vii.7 


. 




HOSEA, 



ii.8 



X. 1 .. 


• . 


xiv. 7 


•• 




JOEL. 


i. 4, 12 




ii. 2-7, 9, 10 


, , 


-23.. 


. • ■ . 


ill. 18 


•• 




AMOS. 


li.e .. 


.. .* 


— 8 


, , 


iii. 8 . . 


• . « * 


— 12 f . 


, , 


iv. 7, 8 


• » • • 


7.16 


, , 


— 19 .. 


. • . . 


vi.4 


, , 


— 11 .. 


.. .. 


viii. 6 


» • • 


ix.l3 .. 


.. 




MICAH. 


iv.4 . 






NAHUM. 


iii. 17 .. 


.. 




HABAKKUK 


i.8 


.* 


— 6-9 .. 


• . . . 


ii.2 


,, 


iii. 16-18 


.. •• 



! 122, 123 
, 297 
45,46 



128, 129 
131 
64 

132, 133 
64 
, 23, 24 
116,117 
302 
211 
55 

140-142 
242 
22 



123 



246,247 

301 

303 



231-235 
231-235 
245-247 
300 



107 

55 

210,211 

54,55 

246, 247 

137-140 

224 

, 54 
24 

. 107 
300 



300 
228-231 



257-259 
259 

127, 128 
259 





ZEPHANIAH. 


i. 8,9 


Page 259, 26a 




ZECHARIAH. 


iii. 10 .. 


.. 63,64,300 


ix. 3 


23 


X. 4 . . 


295 


xiv. '<>, 17 


.. 70 


20 


305 




MALACHI. 


iv. 3 . 


.. 24 




MATTHEW. 


iii. 4 . . 


227, 228 


V. 36 


309 


vi. 3 . . 


176,177 


— 28-30 . 


45 


viii. 9 . . 


286,287 


ix. 9 


179,181 


— 15 .. 


78-81 


— 23 


140-142 


X. 12 .. 


66 


— 27 


.. 17-18 


xiii. 25 


163,164 


31,32 


.. 164 


xiv. 7 . . 


107 


xviii. 26-29 


.. 92-94 


XX. 3, 6, 7 


175,176 


xxi. 8 


112 


17 


.. 12,13,17 


33 . 


168,169 


33-41 


303 


xxii. 11, 12 


.. 115,116 


17, 20 


.. 77 


24 . 


., 54 


xxiii. 24 


59 


27, 29 


.. 26-28 


xxiv. 17 


17 


20 . 


241,242 


41 


46,47 


43 . 


24 


XXV. 6 . . 


78-81 


10 . 


..83 


18 


288,289 


32 . 


188, 189 


xxvi. 23 


.. 8,59-62,74,76,77 


xxvii. 59, 60 . . . . 29-32 


61 


299 


xxviii. 9 . 


96 




MARK. 


ii. 11 .. 


55,56 


V. 2-5 , . 


28,29 


ix.41 .. 


40,41 


— 50 


238 


xii. 39 .. 


66 


xiii. 35 


..221 


xiv. 3 . . 


107 


30 , 


.. 221 


51 


112 



320 



INDEX OF TEXTS ILLUSTRATED. 



1. : 



6,27 



LUKE. 



ii.7 .. 
-42 
V.8 .. 

— 19 

W. 38 .. 

— 49 
vii. 12-15 

44 .. 

45 

viii. 44 

X.4 .. 
xii. 3 

35-37 

xiv.7-12 ., 

16, 17 

XV. 13 

— 16 .. 

— 20 
xvi. 5, 8 
xvii. 2 
xviii. 10-14 

13 .. 

xxii. 17-20 
xxiii. 48 ., 



ii.6 ,. 
IV. 7 

— 10, 11 
vi.27 

— 49-51 
vii. 37-39 .. 
viii. 6 . . 

x. 1 

— 3-5 .. 
xiii. 4 

10 

25-27 

xiv. 27 . . 
XV. 1, 5, 8 .. 
-2 ,. 
xix. 23 

41, 42 

XX. 19 

xxi. 3-13 
7 .. 



JOHN. 



ACTS. 



77-81 

122, 123 

24,25 

284 

92-94 

15-17 

113 

244, 245 

296 

44,45 

92-94 

92-94 

103,104 

15 

111,112 

64-66 

65 

67,68 

237 

93,94 

181, 182 

47,48 

180 

136 

71-77 

136, 137 



50-52 
, 39,40 

194, 195 
. 134,135 

71-77 
, 69,70 

126, 127 
, 190 

186-188 
. 112 

42,43 
. 59-62 

102-104 
, 301 

166 
. 114 

30-32 
. 102-104 

68,69 
. 112 



viii. 27-30 
ix. 37 
X. 9 .. 
xii. 8 

10 

xvi. 13 

XIX. 24 . . 

XX. 8, 9 

— 36-38 

— 37 
xxi. 5 . . 
xxiii. 2 



. . Page 130, 13i 

.. 13 
15-17 

.. 112 
20-22 

.. 36,37 
, 309, 310 
12,13 
36 

93,94 
36,37 
276 



282, 



xi. 17-24 

ix. 7 

v. 19 .. 
iii. 16 



ii.9 
V. 10 

ii.3 

iv. 7 

vi.l6 

iii. 3 
v.2,4 .. 

ii. 17 
V. 1 .. 
vi. 14 
vii. 3 « . 
— 17 
ix.7 .. 
xiii. 1, 11 
xviii. 22 
xix. 7-9 
12 



ROMANS. 

CORINTHIANS. 

EPHESIANS. 
COLOSSIANS. 

1 TIMOTHY . 

2 TIMOTHY. 

HEBREWS, 
1 PETER. 

REVELATION. 



166 

189 

10,11 

10,11 

125 
44,45 

285, 286 
280, 281 

309 

123,124 

189, 19C 

98-100 

129, 130 
. 128, 129 

132, 133 
, 203,204 

232, 235 

123 

48 
, 78-81 

98-100 



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